Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo
by vicious-kitsune
Summary: One year after surviving Battle Royale Ace has to try and put his life back together at a new school. Full summary inside. Shonen ai AceSan, ZoLu, AU, character death, rated for violence in later chapters.
1. First Day

_The idea for this came when I was very depressed but I thought I'd give it a try to see how I managed it. There's going to be character death at the end (I was VERY depressed)._

_Summary: After winning the Battle Royale survival programme Ace is back at a new school and repeating the tenth grade. He's finding it difficult to put his life back together when he suspects people in his class know he's a survivor. But with the friends Luffy makes at their new school always around somehow things don't seem as bad as they really are. AceSan and ZoLu pairings. _

_It is sort of a Battle Royale crossover in the sense that I'm using the concept of Battle Royale's taking place. But no characters from Battle Royale will be appearing in this fic, so don't worry if you've not read the book/seen the film._

_Betaed by crusedlonewolf, many thanks to her for her work._

_Ages in this fic in case anyone is curious are as follows:_

_Ace – 18_

_Marshall D. Teach and Tashigi – 17_

_Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Nami and Vivi – 16_

_Just one more thing, the title means 'Climb the Stairs of Quiet Days'. It's the name of the song by Dragon Ash that was the end credit song from the Battle Royale movie._

Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo

First Day

The constant beeping of the alarm woke Ace from his nightmare. His final moments on that hellish island had been filled with a sound all too similar to his alarm clock, until he had pulled the trigger one last time. The entire experience had been hell, but those final moments, when he thought his neck was about to be blown open, were the worst. Those moments were all he seemed to dream about recently. The thought of never seeing his younger brother and leaving him practically alone in the world was what had given him the strength to make that final kill.

Ace was by no means proud of what he'd done. He'd just done what he had to survive. He was the only family member Luffy had that was always there for him. Their parents had died when they were both children; they had no grandparents, and their only uncle was always away working.

Their uncle Shanks had put some effort in taking care of them since the death of their parents. Shanks had hired Makino to take care of them while they were still young and had seen to it that they never wanted for anything financially. He would stay with them whenever he wasn't on a trip for work, which, seeing as he was a travelling writer, was quite often, and he and Luffy always loved the holidays that their uncle have with them during summer and Christmas. They both loved their uncle, but that didn't change the fact that he was hardly there.

When Ace had woken in a long-abandoned school building after falling asleep on the coach that was taking his class to Kyoto for a school trip, he had known something was wrong. The fact that he had fallen asleep wasn't unusual, but the fact that everyone else had was worrying. The heavy metal collar round his neck hadn't done much to alleviate any of his concerns.

When the door to the classroom opened and five men walked in, two in the front and back wearing military uniforms and carrying machine guns and the last in the middle in jeans and a shirt, he had known instinctively what was going on.

Battle Royale. The Programme.

Whatever you chose to call it, it meant only one thing. Death. Almost an entire class, sometimes the entire class, all killed by each other's hands in three days or less.

He had paid no attention as the instructional video was played. There had been no need; every ninth grade student instinctively knew the rules except the odd few who thought if they ignored it there was a chance their class wouldn't be picked. Ace had never been that naïve. Burying your head in the sand never solved any problems. He had been facing the biggest problem of his life and the last thing he intended to do was bury his head in the sand like some of his classmates no doubt had done.

Despite that, when he'd left the classroom with his school bag and the supply bag that one of the military men had just thrown at him, Ace still didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't want to kill any of his friends – not even the people in his class he barely knew. But he didn't want to die either; he didn't want to leave Luffy alone.

He had racked his brains for a way out of it but nothing had come; the only way out was to win. But he still didn't want to take part in this game. It was only after he had his first run-in with one of his classmates that he had realised there was no choice. Ogura Shin had clearly gone mad and clearly had intended to repeatedly stab Ace till he'd bled to death. He'd used the small flame thrower he'd been issued as his weapon to get Shin writhing on the ground and had taken the kodachi that Shin had been issued and used it to finish him.

There was no longer any doubt in his mind. If he didn't play he was going to die.

Ace rolled over in his bed, his sheets still sticking to him even though his sweat was now cooling. The digital red numbers from his alarm clock told him twenty minutes had passed since the alarm had gone off.

"Shit," Ace cursed as he threw back the sheets and rolled from his bed. "I've got to stop spacing out like that."

He quickly pulled on a pair of boxers. It was his and Luffy's first day of new school, and the last thing he needed to do was waste twenty minutes in bed. Getting Luffy up wasn't a problem; the problem was getting Luffy into his uniform, which, as a rule, his younger brother always hated. It could sometimes take him ten minutes to make Luffy button his shirt properly and put on a tie.

They both hated suffocating clothing and if he had a choice, Ace would go to school in just trousers and Luffy in a loose vest rather then a shirt. But with uniforms, choice was never an option, and Ace had accepted that. Luffy, on the other hand, didn't, and he still tried to get out of wearing ties and buttoning his shirts all the way.

"Luffy, get up!" Ace shouted as he scanned his floor for the towel he'd used last night after his shower and thrown on the floor. There was no sign of it anywhere so he quickly gave up the search and just grabbed his uniform from his wardrobe and headed to the bathroom.

Ace showered quickly, not even taking time to enjoy the warm spray of water like he usually did. He was out in less than five minutes and quickly threw on his uniform, leaving the shirt half unbuttoned and the tie slung loosely round his neck. He exited the bathroom to find Luffy stand, glaring at the tie and clutching his uniform which was now half-hanging off its coat hanger.

"Do I really have to wear this?" Luffy asked like he did every morning.

"You really have to wear it."

"You're not wearing yours properly."

"I will be by the time we get to school. Just shower and sling it around your neck for now. But you'll have to wear it properly when we get to school."

Luffy pouted and turned his puppy dog look to Ace. Lesser men would have caved in, but Ace had gotten used to that look over the years and was immune to its charms. When Ace stared back at him with a deadpan expression, Luffy knew he wasn't winning this time and sulkily headed to the bathroom.

Ace went into the kitchen and looked at the clock. There wasn't enough time for him to put together bento – not even enough time to make Luffy a proper breakfast. He rummaged through the cupboards and the fridge and grabbed an assortment of snack foods; if Luffy couldn't have meat, then junk food was the next best thing. He had no intention of arguing with Luffy over breakfast. Getting the boy into a tie was one thing; getting him to eat a few slices of toast instead of a large breakfast was another. When it came to food, Luffy had his way no matter what.

Ace filled the kettle and set it to boil as he decided that, tonight, he was going to be prepared. Tonight, he was going to make most of the food for their bento for the next day so he'd only have to make rice in the morning. He would have last night, but after he had gotten out of the shower and gone to his room for clothes, he had fallen asleep and stayed asleep till the infuriating alarm woke him. It unfortunately meant that there would no doubt be someone at school that had to go hungry, as Luffy would eat several portions and deprive someone else. But there wasn't exactly much he could do about it now.

Luffy appeared from the bathroom, still towelling his hair, with his tie hanging out his back pocket. As he walked over to the kitchen counter, Ace grabbed it and draped it round Luffy's neck. The younger boy pouted as he realised his plan hadn't worked and that he was going to have to wear the tie. The pout changed to a smile when Ace pushed the array of food before him.

"Where's the meat?" Luffy asked hopefully.

"Sorry, no time. Make do with chocolate. You want tea?"

Ace heard a mumbled response and turned to see that Luffy had already attacked the food. Currently he had three chocolate bars hanging out of his mouth as he tried to cram the rest of them in. He still couldn't make out what his brother was saying but the nodding head at least told him it was a 'yes' to the tea. He grabbed two mugs and put a teaspoon of coffee in one and some tea leaves in the other. The kettle finally finished boiling and he emptied hot water into the mugs, adding a little milk and sugar to his own.

He set the tea down in front of his brother, and found that in the time it had taken him to make two drinks, Luffy had gotten rid of half the food he'd set-aside for their breakfast. He grabbed several bars for himself and began to eat in a manner similar to his younger brother's but somehow more refined.

With a sizeable dent in their supply of snack food for the week and two mugs abandoned in the sink, the two were ready to leave. Ace contemplated for a moment whether he should make Luffy wear his tie properly now but decided against it since he could keep his own undone till they arrived at school.

-------------------

Sanji stood on one of the side streets near his school, a cigarette between his lips as he enjoyed his morning fix of nicotine before he'd have to go without for a couple of hours. Sometimes, being a smoker was an annoyance, but he enjoyed the way it helped him relax. With the friends he had, he really needed to relax.

He wasn't entirely sure he could call them friends – at least, not all of them. They were more like acquaintances that he couldn't seem to get rid of. He was friends with Nami, Vivi, and Usopp, but Zoro was someone he didn't need to spend time with. The school's kendo champion was grating on the nerves, to say the least.

As if on cue, the green haired boy stalked down the alley.

"They'll kill you one day," Zoro stated as he walked past, his boken visible behind his back.

This was why Sanji found him grating. It was none of that swordsman's business if he chose to smoke, and yet Zoro seemed to feel the need to tell him he was going to die because of it on a regular basis. It wasn't as if Zoro cared; he just wanted to annoy Sanji.

"Shitty swordsman," he retorted to the retreating form.

"Dartboard brow."

"You got a problem?"

"Yeah, it's blond, got curly eyebrows, and unfortunately right in front of me," Zoro said after closing the distance he'd put between the two of them.

"This looks interesting," an unfamiliar voice beside them said.

They both slowly turned to find themselves almost face to face with a teen neither of them had ever met. His chocolate eyes stared at them from under a straw hat, eagerly waiting for them to continue their argument.

They were both somewhat shocked that this strange boy should appear seemingly from nowhere just to watch them fight. His uniform told them he attended their school yet neither of them recognised him. They had heard rumours that two new students would be starting so it was possible he was one of them. That didn't explain his fascination with two strangers about to start a fight with each other.

"Stop bothering people, Luffy," another unfamiliar voice admonished as its owner jogged up to them. "I'm sorry if he bothered you. He's easily fascinated and just can't seem to stop himself from staring."

The older teen bowed his head to show them how sorry he was. It was obvious by looking at them that they were related; the colour of their eyes was almost identical. The way he behaved towards the younger one made it seem as if they were brothers, though, for all either Sanji or Zoro knew, they could just be very close cousins.

The older one began to walk away, expecting the other to follow. However, the kid was still standing in front of them, waiting to see what they would do. He was suddenly dragged away, and they both looked over to see that the older one had closed his hand round his wrist and was bodily removing him. They could hear the teen complaining as he was pulled towards the school building.

"Oh, but Ace! That looked really interesting."

"We've still got to register, so get a move on."

Somehow, they both got the feeling that it wasn't the first time the one called Ace had had to drag the one called Luffy away from something 'interesting' that morning.

"So, where were we, Curly Brows?" Zoro questioned, pulling Sanji's gaze from the retreating figures.

He could see Zoro's hand reaching over his shoulder, his fingers barely an inch from closing round the hilt of his boken. Before either of them could act, the school bell rang.

Zoro's hand immediately dropped to his side, and Sanji took one last drag from his cigarette before tossing it aside. They both jogged towards the school, their argument forgotten for the moment.

-------------------

Registering had been fairly easy; Ace had taken care of most of it before they'd started, so all Luffy had to do was pick up his class schedule and sign something. He wasn't sure what he was signing, but he had done it anyway since Ace had signed his. Now he was wandering the halls trying to find his classroom.

The woman that had given him the schedule had said left, right, then second left. Though now, Luffy couldn't remember if those were the directions she'd given to Ace. He looked around the corridor to see that he was alone and therefore the directions must have been intended for him, which meant that all he had to do was turn at the second left and he'd be at the classroom.

Luffy rounded the corner to see a set of stairs leading down. He hadn't been told anything about stairs but followed them down anyway. A sign at the top of the door told him it was the classroom for 2-A, the class he'd been assigned to.

His hand closed on the door handle, and without a thought of knocking he pushed open the door and walked in as if he'd been doing the same thing for years. All eyes in the classroom turned to him and Luffy grinned when he recognised two faces amongst them.

"Hi," he said cheerfully as he waved to the two boys he'd briefly met earlier.

"You must be my new student," began a smooth voice that clearly belonged to his teacher. He turned to see the dark haired woman now gazing down at the register on her desk. "Monkey D. Luffy. I'm Nico Robin. your form and history teacher. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

Luffy stared blankly at the class for a moment. He supposed he should tell them all why he had moved here. But he wasn't allowed to; Ace had made it clear he didn't want anyone to know that he was a winner of Battle Royale. He had to come up with a lie, but nothing sprang to mind. A grin spread over his face as the simple explanation came to him.

"I'm Luffy, and I moved here with my brother Ace because he said we had to," he paused for a moment as he thought about anything else to say to the class. "We live in an apartment that our uncle pays for, but he doesn't live with us. And…that's it."

Luffy grinned broadly to the blank faces before him. They stared back perplexed at him, considering he hadn't really explained anything about himself to them.

"Thank you, why don't you take a seat next to Zoro-kun?"

"Who's Zoro-kun?"

"He's sitting in the back with green hair."

"Oh, I know Zoro-kun." Luffy grinned as he realised it was one of the boys he'd seen earlier.

"Well, that should make things easier. You can move your desk closer to his so you can share his books till you get your own. Now turn to page ninety seven in your books."

Luffy bounded to the back of the classroom and pulled the empty desk and chair next to the ones occupied by the green haired teen. He sat down and turned to face the other teen. When his eyes met a perplexed face, his smile faltered and he tilted his head in confusion.

"What's wrong Zoro-kun?"

"Why did you say you know me? You saw me only this morning. That's not the same as knowing me."

"You and the blond guy are the only people I know."

"You just proved my point. If you knew us, you'd know what his name is."

"But I do know his name. It's Dartboard Brow."

Luffy registered the glare he was now receiving from the blond teen. Apparently he didn't like that name, which was unfortunate for him since it seemed to be his name. The three people sitting in front of him were all snickering; he supposed they thought the name Dartboard Brow was funny, which it was. The orange haired girl turned to face him.

"His name's not 'Dartboard Brow' – its Sanji. Zoro only calls him names like that when they're about to fight."

"Oh, sorry Sanji."

"I'm Nami, and this is Vivi-chan, and Usopp-kun." Nami pointed out the people she was sitting with, who all turned to face him when they were introduced.

"Nami-chan, what did I just say?" Robin asked.

"Sorry Nico-sensei, I wasn't really paying attention."

"Well then, I suggest you stop talking so you can start paying attention."

-------------------

It had been a hell of a morning for Ace. His class and maths teacher Smoker-sensei was nothing if not a bastard. Ace's file had clearly stated that he was narcoleptic and therefore prone to falling asleep at any given moment. The one time he did fall asleep in his maths class, he had a huge textbook dropped mere millimetres from his head to wake him up. Not to mention a lecture about the importance of paying attention in class. Ace had come to the conclusion that Smoker had taken an instant dislike to him for a reason he had yet to figure out.

That hadn't been the end of his trouble though. In P.E. another student, Marshall D. Teach, had decided that he also didn't like Ace. He had wondered whether Marshall had seen his scars whilst getting changed and put two and two together. If anyone stopped to think about it, it would seem fairly obvious that he was a survivor of Battle Royale.

The multitude of scars that no normal kid his age would get, the fact that he was having to repeat tenth grade; the grade where classes were chosen to compete from, and the fact that 'I fell asleep in class too much so couldn't pass the grade' was a pathetic excuse.

He had intended to think of a better excuse – one that didn't involve hospitals because that was too close to the truth for his comfort. Though it probably would have been better than his 'falling asleep' excuse. When he was presented in front of the class without a rehearsed excuse in his head, he had panicked a little and blurted out the first thing that had come to his head.

Considering all that, it wouldn't have surprised him if Marshall had figured it out. Even if he had, that didn't give him any right to trip him as they ran laps round the track. Ace had earned his right to be there running pointless laps, and Marshall had no right to judge him because he had no idea what Ace had been through.

It hadn't been all that bad though. One person had taken pity on him as he pulled himself off the ground. It was Tashigi Hirono, whom he had first dismissed as a teacher's pet to Smoker-sensei, but in actuality was a sweet, if somewhat clumsy, girl.

She reminded him a little of himself. She seemed to have no control over her body, just like he had no control over his sleeping habits. Ace had been shocked when she had told him that she was one of the best on the kendo team. He had thought people who were good at kendo needed to have good balance and not be so clumsy. But if he had learned one thing, it was to never judge a book by its cover.

After all, who would have thought a narcoleptic could have survived Battle Royale?

Now he was waiting outside the canteen for Luffy so that he could buy his brother some lunch and try to restrict the amount the boy ate, even though he probably wouldn't get far in that task.

Luffy bounded around the corner with five people in tow. He recognised two of them as the boys that were about to fight earlier that morning. It seemed Luffy had latched onto them and their friends because they were people he recognised.

"Ace, these are my friends," Luffy declared as he came to an abrupt stop and proceeded to introduce all of them, pointing to each one in turn. "Where are your friends, Ace?"

"Tashigi-kun practices kendo at lunch whether there's a training session or not," Ace explained.

"How come you don't practice every lunch time, Zoro-kun?"

"I'm not as clumsy as Tashigi. Besides, I train every evening instead."

"Oh, ok. Let's go get lunch," Luffy declared as he made a dash for the canteen doors.

Ace grabbed the back of Luffy's jacket and brought the younger teen to a stop before he could really get going. There was no way Luffy would be left unattended in a canteen. He also didn't have any money, and Ace was sure his pouting face wouldn't convince the diner lady to let him have a mountain of food for free.

Still restraining Luffy, Ace led the way into the canteen and grabbed three trays. Luffy naturally tried to take three more but Ace couldn't afford to buy that much lunch, and he was sure this place didn't have that much to spare.

With the three trays full and his wallet feeling considerably lighter, Ace found an empty table in the corner of the canteen and lead Luffy to it. He didn't fail to notice the glare Marshall sent him as they walked past his table. Apparently, Luffy noticed it too, which was unusual because the boy tended to only notice food when it was in front of him. When Ace took his seat, he could see Luffy had stopped and was returning the glare.

The last thing he needed was for Luffy to cause any trouble. He called his brother over and Luffy complied by coming to join him.

"What's his problem?" Luffy asked. "Does he know that you won—"

"Dig in," Ace said as he thrust chopsticks towards Luffy, hoping that food would keep him quiet as the others came to join them.

Happily, Luffy took the chopsticks and began to dig in to the nearest plate that held katsu curry and a pile of rice.

"I can't believe I'm reduced to eating this slop," Sanji complained as he took a seat next to Ace.

"It's good," Luffy said between mouthfuls.

"This stuff tastes terrible."

"Why didn't you bring your bento then, love cook?" Zoro questioned.

"I was busy making soup this morning; I didn't have time to make bento. Some of us work, unlike you."

"I don't have time to work since I spend all my time training."

"My job is my training, it's teaching me to be a better cook."

"Well train harder 'cos your cooking tastes like crap. I'd rather eat this 'slop' than anything made by you."

"For once could you two let the rest of us have our lunch in peace?" Nami complained.

"Of course, Nami-swan," Sanji crowed.

"Why was that guy mad at you?" Luffy asked as he finished his last meal.

Ace had hoped Luffy would forget about Marshall while he ate. The younger teen remembered and was frowning at the memory of it. Ace thought it was one of Luffy's most endearing qualities that he cared so much about the people around him that the slightest thing done against them made him angry. Though right now, he wished his brother would just forget about it.

He also wished he'd stop trying to be so devious and use his question as a distraction so he could try and steal more food. Luffy's hand snuck closer to his meal while he clearly thought Ace was distracted by trying to think of an answer. Just as Luffy was about to help himself to some of the meat Ace had been saving, he slapped his younger brother's hands away. Luffy pouted but looked expectantly at Ace for the answer to his question.

"I fell out my chair when I fell asleep in class and hit him with my head. I guess he's angry about that," Ace said as he wondered why his lies always seemed to be connected with his narcolepsy.

"I wasn't mad when Zoro leaned on me when he fell asleep."

"Are you narcoleptic too?"

"Zoro's just lazy," Sanji quickly explained

"Why should he be mad at you for that?" Luffy questioned before Zoro had a chance to respond to Sanji.

"I did a little more then just lean on him, I hit him pretty hard."

"Still, it's not your fault. You can't help it when you fall asleep. Does he know that? Maybe if we explained it to him he'd be nicer."

"I think he knows, I'm not sure. I'll explain it to him later. Just leave it to me to handle, okay?"

Luffy nodded, allowing Ace to feel relieved. If his brother had decided to march over to Marshall and demand an apology for something that hadn't happened, he didn't want to think about what could have happened. If Marshall had worked it out, he probably would have taken the opportunity to inform everyone in the canteen of his suspicions. Though it was possible he didn't have any suspicions, Ace couldn't take that chance.

He wanted to start over and try to forget the fact that he was a survivor. He had burned the card he'd received from the Great Dictator congratulating him on his win and planned to donate all the money he'd gotten from his pension to charity; once he was old enough to receive his pension. He didn't want to live off money that congratulated him for being a murderer; Ace would sooner live on the streets then accept any handouts from the government that had turned him into a killer.

-------------------

Lunch had turned out to be more of a disaster than usual, despite the fact that Nami had whined at Zoro and Sanji less then usual. Everything had been fine while Luffy had food on his plate or was busy listening to his brother, but if those two conditions weren't met Luffy would be trying to steal food. At first, he went only for Ace's plate but when that was empty, Luffy wasn't fussy about who he tried to steal from. They all learned to eat quickly after they watched Usopp lose some of his food.

Eating at a speed that was likely to cause anyone to choke whilst holding a plate away from Luffy's prying hands was definitely not Zoro's idea of an enjoyable lunch. Normally, Zoro wouldn't hesitate to beat someone like Luffy on the head till they learned not to bother him again. He knew Sanji was the same as well; anyone who tried to steal food from a lady was asking to be kicked by the cook.

Yet Luffy hadn't been hit across the head with a boken or kicked too much. Naturally he and Sanji had beaten him to some extent, but considering that others would never get away with half of what Luffy had done the new boy had gotten off lightly. It seemed that somehow the new student had managed to endear himself to them in just one morning.

Considering that they were a close-knit group, with the exception of him and Sanji and him and Nami whenever the girl was nagging too much, it was unusual for someone to get as close to them as Luffy had. There was something about his easygoing attitude that made him easy to get along with. After lunch it was clear that his laid back manner hid a very caring teen.

They were now sitting in the last lesson of the day, English. Zoro hated English; it was quite obvious to him that he had no talent for learning a second language and he could see no reason why he should have to be here. He just couldn't understand any of the grammatical concepts; and whoever thought of the subject-verb-object sentence order needed to be shot in his opinion. It didn't make any sense to him.

Apparently, he wasn't alone either. Luffy had been looking at their shared textbook in a perplexed manner for the entire lesson. Occasionally, he had turned it upside down in hopes that it might start to make sense if he read it differently. Zoro knew from personal experience that it didn't work and had told Luffy as much, but the teen nonetheless continued to do it occasionally.

He settled back in his chair and let his eyes slowly drift shut. Hopefully he wouldn't get caught this time and could spend the rest of the lesson sleeping.

There was someone poking his side that wouldn't stop no matter how much he swatted their hands away. Reluctantly he opened his eyes to come face to face with Luffy, who looked suspiciously like he was about to start poking him in the face or something equally annoying.

"Lesson's over," Luffy said with a smile.

People were already beginning to file out of the classroom as Zoro pushed Luffy away from him so he could pack his belongings away. With his bag slung over his shoulder, he followed the others out of the classroom. He could see Ace waiting for Luffy in front of some lockers near the room. Clearly he didn't trust his younger brother to meet him at a designated place and felt obliged to collect him. From the day that he'd spent with Luffy, Zoro couldn't blame Ace.

Luffy burst into an even wider grin upon seeing his brother. He charged at his brother and came to a stop right before him.

"I was thinking we should have everyone back to our apartment for tea," Luffy suddenly declared.

"We have next to no food. We can't feed them, Luffy," Ace explained.

"Ah, but I want my new friends to see our flat!" Luffy pouted.

"Some other time. Besides, they might be busy."

"You guys wouldn't be too busy to come around tonight, right?"

"I've got to work tonight," Sanji said.

"You don't work all night though, do you?"

"By the time the kitchen's been cleaned down, it feels like I have. I'll be too tired tonight, but I'm not working tomorrow, so I can come around then. I'll fix dinner if you guys buy some food."

"The rest of you could all come round for a little bit tonight, even if you don't stay for food."

For a moment they all looked thoughtful and nodded except Zoro.

"I can't. I train in the evening, remember?" he explained as Luffy fixed his gaze on him and making him feel guilty for not agreeing as the others had.

"You can't train all night."

"Well…no I don't."

"Then you can come round after you train," Luffy decided as he rummaged through his back and got out his notebook and a pen.

Luffy handed Zoro a sheet of paper to after he'd finished writing on it. Zoro looked down to see an address for an area he was barely familiar with. He looked back up to see Luffy smiling at him almost as brightly as he smiled for his brother.

"Come there when you finish training. It doesn't matter what time, as long as it's not really late," Luffy said.

"What time is really late?" Zoro asked without realising he'd given in to Luffy's request without even trying to argue against going.

"Umm, midnight would be too late, right Ace?"

"Let's make it eleven. Zoro-kun would need time to get back to his house," Ace decided.

"Ok, I'll see you later this evening," Zoro agreed as he stuffed the paper in his back pocket.

Behind him he heard a scoff come from Sanji and turned to glare at the cook.

"What the hell's so funny, love cook?"

"You won't be able to find their apartment – your sense of direction is useless. A lobotomised homing pigeon has a better sense of direction than you."

"What the hell would you know about it, curly brows?"

"Plenty considering I've seen you wander the school halls looking lost, even after you've been here for a year, Marimo."

"They changed the layout, asshole. It's normal to get lost when things change."

"I don't have time for you; I'll be late for work. Nami-swan, Vivi-chwan, I'll see you both tomorrow and will bring delicious bento for both of you."

"Thank you Sanji-kun," Nami sweetly replied as Sanji walked away.

"Bastard," Zoro growled before turning to Luffy. "Don't worry, I'll find your place. See you later Luffy, Ace."

He turned to take a different exit from Sanji, not wanting to see any more of the cook for one day. He was determined to prove the love cook wrong. It wasn't just that that fuelled his determination to find Luffy and Ace's flat. For some reason, he didn't understand that he was looking forward to spending the evening with the brothers, even though he barely knew them.

There was something about both of them that he found himself liking, especially Luffy, but he didn't know why.

_So ends chapter 1. I don't know why I'm starting another multi-chapter fic when I have enough to be working on, but these ideas just come to me and don't go away unless I start working on them._

_Please leave a review to let me know what you thought. I always appreciate constructive comments. _


	2. Staying the Night

_Very sorry for the long wait on this chapter. The good news is the next one is planned out and just waiting to be wrote. Since I'm working long days it might take awhile, but shouldn't be as long as the wait for this one._

_I don't own One Piece._

Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo

Staying the Night

His practice had finished a couple of hours ago and Zoro was still wandering the streets of Tokyo with nothing but a slip of paper with an address on it for guidance. He was sure by now that he had to be in vaguely the right area, somewhere near Luffy and Ace's flats. A salary man was sitting on a small wall clutching a brown paper bag that obviously had some form of liquor in it.

Tired of walking around with only a vague idea of where he was going, Zoro decided the best course of action now would be to ask the salary man for directions. Since he didn't look to be swaying or giving any other indication that he was drunk, he'd probably only just started drinking so he should be able to answer some questions. Zoro walked over to the man.

"Do you know where this address is?" Zoro asked as he handed over the slip of paper. "Is it anywhere near here?"

"You're nowhere near, kid. It'd be best if you took the subway cos it's gonna take you at least half an hour on foot."

"Well, I got no money, so could you point me in the right direction so I can start walking?"

Zoro paid close attention to the complicated directions given to him and remembered to thank the man before heading off. He'd only gone about two steps when the man shouted at him.

"That's the wrong way. I said you go left from here, kid, not right."

That was what he was doing; he was heading left just like he'd been told. When he looked back to the man he realised that the man was right—he was heading right. How had that happened?

He turned around and retraced the few steps he'd taken. As he came level to the man once again, a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist to get his attention.

"You gonna be ok? I can write the directions down for you on that bit of paper with the address on it."

"I'll be fine," Zoro stated and the way he glared at the man made him release his hold on Zoro's wrist.

It was bad enough that he'd stopped to ask directions; the last thing he wanted was for them to be written down for him like a child incapable of remembering a few simple instructions. He wouldn't even have asked for directions if Luffy and Ace's flat was in a place he was familiar with, but Tokyo was a big city and he'd never even been to the area in which they lived. So directions had turned out to be a necessity.

Satisfied that the man wasn't going to try and stop him again, Zoro continued walking in the direction he'd been told to.

Several hours had passed since then. The man clearly had been drunk because, despite Zoro following his directions perfectly, it had still taken him just over three hours to arrive at the apartment building. That didn't matter; he'd finally managed to make it.

He spotted a young couple heading towards the building. They were both drunk, especially the young woman as she was leaning heavily on the man for support and even then managing to stumble every few steps.

He decided they either lived here or wished they did since from the outside it looked like a fairly expensive place to live. So they would either go inside, in which case he'd follow them in; or they'd collapse outside the building since the woman really didn't look like she could walk much further.

When they got to the door he heard keys jangle before turning in the lock. The couple stumbled inside and Zoro caught the door before it could close on him. He waited a moment before going inside, giving the couple a chance to head to their own flat. With them out the way Zoro headed inside and looked for any indication of where exactly flat 505 was located.

There was absolutely no clue to be found in the main corridor of the first floor as to where any of the rooms might be located. Flat 505 was probably on the fifth floor, Zoro concluded. That was usually how the numbering system in flats worked, with the first number indicating the location of the floor.

He looked around for the lift but couldn't find it. The stairs, however, he'd spotted when he first came in, so he headed back to them and began to climb upwards.

He took the door that lead to the fifth floor and decided which way to go. Left, right, or straight ahead were all the available options. He headed left first but found only flats 507-509 before the hallway ended. Next he tried right but found only 501-503 before again reaching a dead end. That meant it had to be the corridor that went straight across from the stairs. It was always the last one you tried. It happened whenever he was looking for something; the last place he looked would be where he'd find it. Zoro made a mental note to think of the last place he'd look before he started searching for anything so he could look there first and save time.

Flat 505 was the only flat located on the left-hand side of the corridor. He was about to knock on the door when his watch caught his eye. It was now 1.30 a.m. Two and half hours later from the acceptable time of 11.00 p.m. that Ace said would be the latest he could visit.

He was now tired. He didn't want to think about how long it would take him to get home. So he sat down against the door and fell asleep.

-------------------

"Why do you think Zoro didn't come last night?" Luffy asked around a mouthful of sausage and bacon. Ever since they'd been to England with their Uncle Shanks, Luffy had made the full English breakfast his favourite breakfast on account of the large quantity of meat it contained. "He said he was going to, so why didn't he come?"

"I wouldn't worry about it."

"But I wanted Zoro to see our flat."

"He probably just got lost like Sanji said he would. If he can get lost in a school, it wouldn't surprise me to find out he got lost last night. Come on, finish up, we've got to go."

Luffy quickly finished what little remained on his plate and went to grab four of the six bento boxes that were waiting on the side.

"Only three of them are yours," Ace admonished. "And I'm going to keep them till lunch. If I let you hold onto yours, they'll be gone before lunch."

"Can't I just have at least one to eat in the morning?"

"Not a chance. Now come on, we've got to get going."

Ace put the six bento boxes in a separate bag from the one he carried all his schoolwork in. They both picked up their school bags and headed to the front door. As Ace opened the front door and began to walk out, he turned back to make sure Luffy still had his tie. He caught Luffy about to drop it on the small table.

"Luffy…"

"But I don't like it. It's horrible and I don't want to wear it."

"That's kinda tough considering," Ace began but fell to the floor before he could finish.

"Ace, are you asleep again?" Luffy questioned with his head cocked to the side. He couldn't hear any snoring so he wasn't sure. But when Ace fell down like that, it always meant he had fallen asleep. He bent down to give Ace a shake to wake him up so they could leave for school.

As Ace was picking himself up, Luffy spotted Zoro just waking up underneath his brother. Ace stood up and Zoro raised himself to a sitting position and stretched his hands above his head as he yawned before standing up.

"Zoro! You came," Luffy exclaimed. "But why didn't you come in?"

"It was 1.30 when I got here. Since it was so late and I was tired I decided to just go to sleep here."

"I knew it! You are just like Ace—you've got narcolepsy too."

"I can control when I fall asleep, so I'm not narcoleptic."

"But you fall asleep all the time and in really strange places, just like Ace does."

"Are you listening to me?" Zoro got no response from Luffy so turned to Ace. "Does he actually understand what's wrong with you?"

"Sometimes I wonder," Ace replied with a grin.

"It doesn't matter. You came, Zoro, even if you didn't get to see our flat, that's what's important," Luffy declared as he threw his arms round Zoro's neck.

Luffy looked up to Zoro, wondering why he wasn't hugging him back. Zoro's face looked unsure and confused, which made Luffy confused. After all what was wrong with hugging a friend?

Slowly Zoro put an arm round his shoulder and Luffy smiled up brightly at him.

"Come on Luffy, put him down," Ace began. "For one thing, you don't know where he's been and for another we're going to be late if we don't leave now."

-------------------

Sanji was walking to school with the promised bento lunches for Nami and Vivi tied up in a piece of cloth along with his own. As he came to the end of the road and lit a cigarette, Nami and Usopp walked past the alley he was standing in. It was unusual that Vivi wasn't with them. The three of them all lived quite close to each other, and as such, walked to school together every morning.

"Good morning Nami-swan!" Sanji cried as he ran towards his two friends.

"Ah, good morning Sanji-kun," Nami replied as she and Usopp stopped walking to let Sanji catch up to them.

"Where's Vivi-chan this morning?"

"She's sick so she won't be coming in today."

"Poor Vivi-chan. What's wrong with her? If I know what's wrong with her I can prepare a meal to help her recover."

"I've no idea. Her dad only said she was sick."

"That means I've got a spare bento. Would you like it Nami-swan?"

"One is more than enough for me. I'm not some pig like Luffy and Ace. Though, at least Ace has table manners."

That at least told him what he should do with his spare bento. If Luffy had more food, then it might be able to stop him from trying to steal Nami's lunch. Since Ace seemed to have an appetite that was about the same size as Luffy's, Sanji supposed he should give it to both of them.

Or he could just let them fight over it.

-------------------

He knew it was Marshall who was glaring daggers at the back of his head. He had been doing it all morning and it was beginning to bother Ace. It was better than earlier in the morning when he had not only had Marshall glaring at him from behind but Smoker-sensei from the front of the classroom.

At least with Smoker-sensei Ace had some vague idea why he was being stared at. Smoker-sensei's looks were almost daring him to fall asleep again in his class. Marshall's looks he couldn't figure out.

Marshall was still giving no indication that he'd taken a disliking to Ace because he felt like it or if he suspected anything about Ace's past. Either way there was nothing Ace could do about it. If Marshall knew nothing and just hated him, then confronting him would certainly make him suspicious. When you have something to hide, the best way to hide it is to just keep your head down and try not to attract attention to yourself.

The only way Ace was ever going to find out was if Marshall confronted him. That idea didn't thrill him. A part of him preferred to live not knowing the truth. He wasn't sure he was ready to handle anyone besides Luffy knowing the truth. Just having Luffy know the truth was hard enough for him. He didn't know how Luffy coped with knowing. If it ever bothered Luffy, he certainly never showed it.

It was possible that Luffy cared for him so much that he was glad they could still be together. But to know your brother was a murderer must have some impact on the way you saw him. Still, nothing had changed in their relationship. Luffy was still as cheerful and loving a brother as always.

On the one hand Ace was glad that nothing had changed. But he worried that maybe Luffy was bottling things up. And that worried him.

His thoughts went blank as he passed out on his desk.

-------------------

He had been playing for just over a day. The first twenty-four hours were over but the next twenty-four had just begun. He was amazed he'd made it through. Even though he was determined to survive, actually surviving with his narcolepsy handicap was going to be one hell of a challenge.

_But he'd made it through the first day. That was something__ considering so many of his classmates had died that day. _

_He stopped and grabbed the map that hung from his neck in a plastic wallet. He had a feeling he was coming close to one of the danger zones. After checking his surroundings and then checking the map__ he realised he was right. He was just over 10 metres away from 3-E, which __was__ a danger zone since midnight._

_He quickly changed direction. It would probably be better this way. He was now heading towards a forest which would offer him some cover should he fall asleep at an inappropriate moment. _

_So far__ he'd killed two people. And he would kill more__—__how many more he couldn't say. But there was one thing that bothered him. What would he do if he met Hajime? Anyone else he could kill__ no questions asked. But he wasn't sure what he'd do if it were Hajime he was facing._

_For now__ it didn't matter since they might never meet. Someone else could get to either of them before they met. Either one of them could die at any moment. Even if they did meet__ perhaps by that time Ace's first instinct would be to kill first and check who it was later._

_He didn't notice the body on the ground before him until he tripped over it. He pulled himself up and looked down __to see who it was__. The body was lying face down with a gaping wound between the shoulder blades. _

_He touched the hand. It was still slightly warm so whoever this was had not been dead long__, w__hich meant there was a good chance the killer was still somewhere near the body and now __near Ace__. He knew he should move on__ but he had to know who it was. He couldn't wait till the next death list and danger zone announcement to figure it out. With the body before him now__ he wanted to know now. _

_He turned the body over to find himself staring into the lifeless eyes of Hajime. His chest was riddled with bullet holes and it was most likely having his chest torn apart that had caused his death rather than the wound on his back. _

_So why was the wound there? It was possible that whoever killed him had snuck up on Hajime and attacked him in order to take his weapon and then kill him. Or it was possible that the killer had done it after Hajime had been killed. _

_It was a more far-fetched theory than the first__ but it wasn't impossible. This game drove people mad. So mad it was possible that a person would maim a dead body. It disgusted him__ but there was nothing he could do about it. _

_He was distracted from his thoughts as he noticed a tear splash against Hajime's che__e__k. He hadn't even realised he'd been crying till he saw the tear. He wiped at his eyes and was about to move on when the classical music that heralded another death list and danger zone announcement blared through the speakers located all over the island. _

_He grabbed the plastic wallet that held his map and quickly removed the map and pencil. As each new danger zone was announced he marked off the time it would become a danger zone to the correct zone on his map._

_With the new zones marked off on his map__ Ace put both it and the pencil away in the plastic wallet and got up to leave. After taking only a few steps he turned back to Hajime's body. He stooped down next to it and closed Hajime's eyes__ then stood and carried on in the direction he was heading. _

-------------------

Ace's shoulder was being lightly shaken. He woke and lifted his head slightly to see Nico-sensei smiling down at him.

"Class is over, Ace-san."

He looked round the classroom to see that everyone else had already left. Nico-sensei handed him some notes and Ace looked to her slightly confused.

"I took the liberty of asking Hirono-san to let you borrow her notes," she explained. "You'd best get a move on, Ace-san, if you hope to feed your brother before he eats the cafeteria."

"How'd you know Luffy has a huge appetite? Has he been sneaking snacks in class?"

"Not mine. I just assumed that those six bento boxes weren't all for you, which tells me you both have a large appetite."

"Pretty large," Ace agreed as he began to pack up all his possessions.

With everything packed away, Ace grabbed his bag and the bentos and went to leave. As he opened the classroom door, Nico-sensei's voice stopped him.

"I know everything about your past," she stated.

"That's not surprising, considering teachers have access to my files."

"You'd be surprised how many teachers don't bother to read student files."

"That might explain why Smoker-sensei seems to hate me. If he doesn't know I'm narcoleptic no wonder he gets mad when I fall asleep."

"Smoker-sensei is a stickler for the rules so he reads files. Sorry if that ruins your theory, but Smoker-sensei can sometimes just take a disliking to a student, especially if it seems like he's going to disrupt anything."

"I'm not looking to disrupt anything. I just want to move on with my life."

"It wasn't my intention to get into a discussion about Smoker-sensei's habits. What I wanted to say to you was that if you ever want to talk to someone, I'd listen. I might not always be available, but whenever I am, I'll listen."

"Thank you Nico-sensei. I'll bear that in mind," Ace said, leaving the classroom as soon as he'd finished speaking.

-------------------

Currently, Sanji was standing outside the canteen with everyone else, waiting for Ace. They had been waiting for about ten minutes, and already Luffy's cries of hunger were beginning to become more than he could bear. At the moment, the black-haired teen was slouched against Zoro, apparently too hungry to support his own weight.

He was beginning to think that he should just give the spare bento to Luffy and let him sit on the floor and eat it. As Luffy let out another moan of hunger, Sanji decided that the bento would have to go to him immediately. He was about to hand it over when Ace came running up the corridor.

He stopped just before them, panting slightly. "Sorry, I fell asleep and had to be woken be Nico-sensei."

"Let's just eat!" Luffy exclaimed, his energy returning as he grabbed hold of Ace's wrist and began to drag him into the canteen to the nearest empty table.

As the mad feeding frenzy of Luffy began, Sanji couldn't help but notice that Ace seemed a little distracted. He had seemed the same yesterday. Even though he barely knew either Ace or Luffy, he had always considered himself a good judge of people, and his initial judgements of Ace had been that he seemed to be preoccupied with something. The only way he was going to know for sure would be to talk to him.

From his position opposite Ace across the table, it was easy enough to get his attention. "You alright Ace?"

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"I just thought you seemed a bit distracted."

"I'm just having…issues with my homeroom teacher, Smoker-sensei."

"That's normal. Smoker-sensei's the biggest bastard around here. Rumour has it that he used to be an ok guy, but after being overlooked for the head of maths department job about five times he turned into an evil bastard."

"Well, if it's true it certainly would explain a few things."

"Only problem with rumours is that you never know if they're true. Could just be that he's nothing but a bastard, end of story. Well, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, otherwise you'll probably be worrying about it forever."

"Thanks for the advice. I'll bear it in mind."

"I think you'll find that this might help," Sanji said as he handed over the spare bento. Ace looked at him, confused. "Most people tell me my cooking is so good it'll distract you from everything else."

"Most people don't have taste buds," Zoro shot from the other end of the table.

"A pig has more taste buds than you."

"How come Ace gets another bento?" Luffy whined as Ace opened up the box.

"It's for both of you to share since Vivi-chan's sick, and two bentos are too much for Nami-san."

"Yahoo! I get more food!" Luffy cried as he grabbed his chopsticks once more.

"_We_ get more food," Ace reminded him as he grabbed his own chopsticks, well aware that if he delayed, Luffy would eat every last grain of rice.

For the time being, Sanji was satisfied that Ace was a little less distracted. Even if it wasn't his cooking that was distracting him but a fight for food with his brother, it was an improvement.

Even though Ace's explanation about Smoker-sensei made sense to him, Sanji decided that he would keep an eye on Ace. He didn't seem to be the kind of guy to let something bother him for long, and if he didn't seem to improve, then he'd at least know that Smoker-sensei wasn't the only problem Ace was facing.

Whilst it was probably true that Smoker-sensei hated Ace, Sanji couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else bothering him. Time would tell. If Ace started to act more like he was at the current moment staging a chopsticks war with Luffy, then Sanji knew there'd be nothing to worry about.

If he continued to behave like he was, then he'd know something was wrong.

Considering Ace seemed like the kind of person who would normally be laid back, Sanji couldn't help but wonder what would make him behave so.

-------------------

"That was really delicious!" Luffy exclaimed as he managed to get the last mouthful of rice before Ace could.

"I'll agree with that," Ace added. "That was probably one of the best meals I've ever had."

"I can't wait for tonight. You're still going to come round and cook dinner for us all, right?"

"Yeah, I'm still coming. What kind of cooking equipment do you guys have? I'll need to know what you've got so I can decide what to make."

"We're got the usual sort of stuff. Pots, pans, cooker, portable stove, hot plate."

"Since you've got a portable stove I think I'll make sukiyaki. I don't get to make it often since it's not on the menu and it's kinda fun to cook it. Would that be ok for you, Nami-swan?"

"It has been starting to get cold recently, so I think I'd quite enjoy some sukiyaki."

"If sukiyaki is what Nami-swan desires, then sukiyaki is what Nami-swan shall have."

"Do you think you can find your way to our flat again tonight Zoro?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem."

"I'm not serving dinner at midnight to accommodate for you being directionally challenged," Sanji scoffed.

"I said I can find it again," Zoro growled.

"I'd be surprised if you could find your own flat without having to wander the streets for an hour every night."

"Why don't we just meet you after you're finished training?" Ace suggested quickly, hoping to prevent a fight from breaking out between Zoro and Sanji. If he had learned one thing quickly about Luffy's new friends, it was to stop Zoro and Sanji fighting as soon as possible so Nami wouldn't lose her temper.

"That's a great idea," Luffy enthused. "We should meet Zoro and then he definitely won't get lost and we can make sure he knows how to find the flat in the future. And maybe if we're quick with the shopping we could see Zoro train or at least we'd get to see where he trains. I bet it's a really cool place."

"We might as well since we'll probably be out shopping for ingredients for awhile because we're running low on supplies," Ace continued. Sanji looked at him in amazement for a moment. It seemed that he couldn't comprehend why they didn't already have ingredients. "We've got food, just not much in the line of fresh ingredients. I figure you're going to want some fresh stuff."

"I suppose so," Zoro agreed with a shrug.

"Will you come shopping with us Nami-swan?" Sanji asked.

"The only shopping that interests me is clothes shopping. Food shopping isn't really my style. I'll meet you back at the flat at, say, seven-ish?"

"That would be fine, Nami-swan," Sanji decided without checking with Ace.

"What about you, Usopp?" Luffy asked.

"I think I'll go back with Nami. We can check up on how Vivi's feeling and let you all know later," Usopp suggested.

"Don't forget to find out what's wrong with her so I can make her something that'll help her feel better," Sanji said.

"I guess that's everything settled then," Ace concluded.

-------------------

Zoro had walked to training with Luffy, Ace, and Sanji since Sanji had insisted some of the best shops for food were past his dojo. Luffy had seemed thrilled at the prospect of not only walking Zoro to the flat after training but also getting to walk to training with him. For some reason Zoro couldn't quite understand, the boy had become very attached to him very quickly.

What was even more confusing to him was that he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to go out of his way to please Luffy. After all, he had agreed to be escorted from the dojo to the flat, even though he was sure he could make his own way there. Luffy had seemed so excited about every aspect of the idea that he had agreed.

Since then Zoro had listened to Luffy's enthusiasm for it all afternoon. Luffy was most eager to see him train. It had been almost all he had talked about all afternoon. In a way, it had pleased him. Plenty of people had watched him fight before, usually in official matches. There was something about the idea of Luffy seeing what he was capable of that pleased him more than other people watching him fight.

It seemed that for some reason he was acting in a way that would please Luffy. He had been confused enough that morning when he had not only allowed Luffy to hug him but had also hugged back.

The boy was an enigma to him. What was worse was that Luffy was making him an enigma to himself.

His behaviour had always been straightforward and easy to understand. Now he was becoming confused by the actions he was making in Luffy's presence. Zoro wasn't sure if it would turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing the changes Luffy seemed to be making in him.

Once he was changed, Zoro threw himself into his katas with more vigour than usual. Normally he hated them, preferring sparring above anything else when it came to training.

But tonight was different.

Anything that would prove to be a distraction from thoughts of Luffy, Luffy's behaviour, and how Luffy's behaviour was affecting his own, was more than welcome.

-------------------

Luffy had been nothing but a bundle of excitement ever since lunch. Two things had put him in an incredibly good mood as opposed to his usual good mood. Firstly, Sanji had decided to make sukiyaki, which was one of his favourite meals. It perhaps seemed unusual that Luffy had a favourite meal; it seemed much more likely that every meal should be his favourite. But there was a reason for his particular fondness of sukiyaki. After all, it was far easier to steal bits of food when it was being cooked in front of him than when it was being made in a kitchen, which, as a rule, he was usually banned from during meal preparations.

The second thing was that he was going to get to eat with Zoro tonight. He had been thoroughly disappointed the previous night when Zoro hadn't made it on time. There was no way that was going to happen tonight since they were on their way to meet him.

Sanji had taken so long inspecting the various different ingredients that there would be no time to see Zoro finish his training. If anything they would perhaps be keeping him waiting. He was a little disappointed by that fact, but it was hard to be truly disappointed when he knew he would soon be eating a delicious meal.

Once they finally arrived back at the dojo where they had left Zoro earlier, Luffy bounded inside, eager to find him. The main training room was empty, so without hesitation Luffy headed for the changing room. It was there he found Zoro and a multitude of confused faces looking at the intruder in wonder.

Zoro had just packed away the last of his belongings in his bag and had turned to see an excited Luffy in the doorway of the changing room. The boy looked like a happy puppy; had he a tail, Zoro was sure it would be wagging back and forth at such a speed that no one would be able to see it.

Without warning, Luffy bounded to Zoro and grabbed his wrist. Luckily Zoro's hands were still firmly wrapped round his bag as both he and it were pulled to a hasty exit by Luffy.

Luffy didn't notice the stares they were getting from the other people. It hadn't registered to him that outside of his friends Zoro was not particularly popular. He was well respected because of his swordsman skills, but there were few people that truly liked him, and never had any of the people in the changing room seen anyone grab Zoro like Luffy had. They knew no one that would dare do such a thing for fear of getting a sound beating.

Luffy continued to lead Zoro away, oblivious to the facts that they were being watched and that right now Zoro wanted to disappear. Without realising it, Luffy made that wish come true by leading him outside to where Ace and Sanji were waiting.

"Ready?" Ace questioned as the two of them came to a stop before him.

"Yup, let's go!" Luffy declared. "I'm gonna give Zoro directions so he can find the flat again easily."

"This should be interesting," Sanji remarked. He knew Zoro's directional sense was worthless and something told him Luffy's would be almost as bad. It would be like the blind leading the blind.

"Right from here you go this way," Luffy said in an important sounding voice. If you were giving directions, you had to sound important so people knew that you knew exactly where you were going. He couldn't remember where he had heard this or if it was just something he had decided for himself but it was something Luffy believed. "Then, when you get to this really tall building, you should turn left."

"Left is the hand you don't hold your dick with."

"It is the one I'll smack you in the face with if you don't shut the hell up," Zoro snapped, "rapidly followed by the right."

"You have to pay attention," Luffy insisted, getting Zoro's attention back. "At all these really tall buildings you don't turn, you just go straight."

"Luffy, you know there are a lot of really tall buildings in Tokyo, right?"

"Yup, they stand out cos they're so tall. That's why I'm telling you to look out for them to know when to turn and when not to."

"My point is, because there're so many tall buildings, you should pick something different to tell me where to turn; otherwise all your directions won't be distinguishable."

"But the tall buildings are distinguishable because they're tall."

"Luffy, just forget the directions," Ace said. "They are confusing."

Luffy was confused as to why no one seemed to understand his directions. He had thought they were good. After all, nothing caught your attention like a tall building did. So what was wrong with using them to give directions? He was about to question the point further when Ace spoke again.

"Let's just get a move on so we can eat already."

Luffy decided that was a better point than tall buildings. The faster they got back to the flat the faster they would eat. All thoughts of tall buildings and giving directions vanished to be replaced by the one thought that overrode all others to Luffy. Food.

-------------------

They made it back to the flats quite quickly with Luffy setting the pace. It was a quarter to seven, which meant Luffy would have about fifteen minutes to show Zoro around the flat. Luffy had figured that if Nami was going to arrive at seven, Sanji would start cooking at seven. The one time when Luffy was guaranteed to use his brain to figure anything out was when food was involved.

As Sanji began to cut up all the different vegetables he'd bought, Luffy started the grand tour. He began with the kitchen and living room, keen to move on since there wasn't really anything particularly important in either of these rooms (except food in the kitchen, of course), but Zoro seemed to be taken aback by the big screen television and game console in the living room.

After tugging on Zoro's wrist, Luffy was able to continue showing him round. He almost forgot to show him the bathroom. It wasn't an exciting room, but one Zoro might need to use, so Luffy made sure to point it out to him. He gave Zoro a quick look in Ace's room, but it wasn't what he really wanted to show Zoro. He was soon pulling Zoro away and across the hall to his own room.

Luffy bounded into his room while Zoro stood in the doorway, still slightly in shock that Luffy and Ace lived in such a lavish flat. In both Luffy and Ace's rooms there had been two more televisions and different game consoles; it seemed pretty obvious that the uncle that footed the bill for everything must be fairly well off.

"Come in and look around," Luffy enthused as he leapt over his double bed to his wardrobe.

As Luffy rummaged through his wardrobe, Zoro walked over to a shelf and began to look at its contents. There were some games, DVDs and, most surprisingly, books. At school, Luffy hadn't struck him as the reading type, yet his shelf had a large supply of textbooks and a few fictional works.

He idly picked up a game as Luffy rushed back to him, now dressed in long denim shorts and a red vest.

"That one's my favourite," Luffy said as he regarded he game Zoro held, a jolly roger was on the front and the words 'One Piece' were written across the case. "You have to form your own pirate crew and steal treasure from other pirates and stop them from stealing your treasure. When you find the grand treasure One Piece you've beaten the game."

"You beat it yet?"

"Not yet, but I think I'm close. I'm not sure. But I do have enough treasure to trade in for another crewmember. I'm gonna get a swordsman—I don't have a swordsman yet and he's gonna be called Zoro."

Zoro wasn't sure what to make of that. Either it was a complete lack of imagination on Luffy's part, or it went back to the strange things he'd been thinking about earlier. He couldn't figure it out and he didn't know what to say as Luffy beamed up at him.

Thankfully he didn't have to say anything as he was saved by the sound of the flat's buzzer announcing what he assumed was the arrival of Nami and Usopp. After Luffy bounded out the room he put the game back where he'd found it and followed after him at a more leisurely pace.

-------------------

With everyone assembled and the preparation of the food complete, Sanji and Ace moved all the ingredients and the portable stove into the living room. They were arranged on the low table in the centre of the room and Sanji began to cook.

This was the moment Luffy had been waiting for all night: the opportunity to steal food. He was good at stealing while sukiyaki was being prepared. His chopsticks darted into the pot so fast that, by the time the cook had noticed, he had already made off with his prize.

He was shocked when his chopsticks were caught in the ones Sanji was using to cook with. As he looked up, he met Sanji's stern face.

"Nobody eats till it's ready," Sanji warned.

Ace couldn't help laughing as Luffy pouted at being caught. It was the first time he'd ever seen anyone catch Luffy, and the look of shock and disappointment on his brother's face was priceless.

That didn't stop Luffy from trying again though. While the meal cooked, he must have tried at least ten times to sneak some food away from the pot. But every time, Sanji caught Luffy's chopsticks with his own and thwarted his attempts.

As Sanji added the last ingredient, udon, he sent Ace to the kitchen to fetch the bowls of eggs he'd prepared early and left in the fridge. He would have gone himself but didn't trust anyone else to be able to stop Luffy from stealing.

With the eggs now set out before everyone, Sanji declared that the meal was ready. With no restrictions upon him, Luffy grabbed several chopsticks' worth and put them in his bowl. He devoured what was in his bowl, stopping just long enough to tell Sanji it was delicious, before going in for more.

It was now that Sanji realised the error of making sukiyaki with Luffy present. Everyone else save Ace was still eating their first helping. Unlike Ace, who was waiting for the others to finish, Luffy was already diving in for his next helping.

It wouldn't do for Nami to go hungry, so once again Sanji caught Luffy's chopsticks as he went in for his second helping.

"Why'd you do that?" Luffy objected. "You've finished cooking so I'm allowed to eat now."

"If you're allowed to eat as you please, no one else will get any. Until everyone else has dished up their next helping, you can't have yours," Sanji explained.

Luffy pouted and tried to free his chopsticks but try as he might he couldn't break Sanji's hold on them.

The meal proceeded in this manner till it was all finished. Sanji was grateful for Ace offering to dish up more for Sanji else he would have gone hungry seeing as he was unable to eat while he was stopping Luffy from eating.

"That was delicious Sanji-kun," Nami said.

"Really Nami-swan? I'm glad you were able to enjoy the meal, despite it being somewhat of a fiasco."

"It's not everyday you get dinner and a show."

"Would you care for anything else? I could make you some coffee or see if there's anything I can use to make you a dessert."

"I'm fine. In fact, we should probably think about heading home, right Usopp?"

"That's right. Even the great Usopp gets in trouble if he stays out too late."

"Before you go did you find out what's wrong with Vivi-chan? And are you sure you couldn't stay a little bit longer? I could escort you back if you're worried about walking home alone since Usopp has to go now.

"Vivi's dad said she had some sort of stomach bug and it'll probably pass in another day. Bellemere will kill me if I'm late so I really should go, too." She and Usopp stood and made their way to the front door. They grabbed the coats they had left hanging up. "Thanks for inviting us again and thanks for the meal, Sanji-kun." They both gave a wave to them and left.

"Any time Nami-swan. Whenever you want me to make you a meal, all you have to do is let me know. I'm always willing to cook for you, Nami-swan."

"She has left, you know, moron," Zoro stated.

"You think I can't see that? I'm not as blind as you are."

"Do you realise how stupid you look talking to a door?"

"I wasn't talking to a door—I was talking to Nami-swan."

"If she's not here, you're talking to a door."

"Forget it. Obviously the idea of her still being able to hear me through the door is beyond you. I should get going too."

"No, you can't go," Luffy objected. "Neither of you can go. You both have to stay the night."

"Luffy, we can't stay the night, we don't have any clothes," Zoro protested.

"But we can wash and dry your clothes over night and in the mean time you can borrow some of Ace's clothes and Sanji some of mine," Luffy said. Before either of them could make another protestation, Luffy continued. "You can use our telephone to call your parents and let them know where you are. Zoro can sleep in my room and Sanji in Ace's and then in the morning Sanji can make breakfast."

They were both stunned. Not only had Luffy thought through his plan, he had been able to answer their objections before they even raised them. Luffy's smile grew as their silence continued. Before they knew it Luffy was bounding away to his room.

"What's happening?" Ace asked as he emerged from the kitchen where he had been washing up.

"Luffy asked us to stay the night and now he's disappeared to his room," Sanji explained.

Luffy bounded back, clutching a pair of jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a clean pair of boxers. He thrust the items of clothing at Sanji. "Zoro and Sanji are going to stay the night. You need to find some clothes for Zoro to wear while we clean his, cos mine won't fit."

"We haven't said we're going to stay," Zoro said.

"But you didn't say no so that means yes. You can use my room to get changed, Sanji. Hurry up and find Zoro some clothes Ace."

"Are you ok with this?" Sanji asked Ace, since it seemed Luffy had decided for them.

"He's made his mind up, it's far too late to change it now," Ace said as he went to find some clothes for Zoro.

-------------------

After Zoro and Sanji had changed clothes and they'd put their uniforms in the washing machine, the four of them had sat and watched DVDs. Now Ace was lying in bed with Sanji. The blond was curled up on the other side of the bed. Lying in the dark with him, Ace couldn't help realising how similar Sanji was to his old boyfriend.

They looked almost identical. They had a similar build and facially they could perhaps pass for twins. Their hair was what really set them apart. Hajime's was black and short, absolutely nothing like Sanji's. Where Sanji's hair hid his face, Hajime's openly showed his off. He couldn't help but wonder if there was something that made Sanji want to hide; after all, he had no physical reason to want to hide his face.

Ace became aware that he was thinking far too much about Sanji and Hajime. For that one moment, he felt unable to stay in the same bed as Sanji. He got out of bed and went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. That brief respite was all he needed. When he returned to his room he felt slightly better, at least able to sit on the edge of his bed.

He sipped at the water and looked back at Sanji again. He couldn't help but wonder if he hadn't had that dream in Nico-sensei's class whether he would have realised the similarity. He had loved Hajime, but when he was awake, he made a conscious effort to not think about anything that could be connected to Battle Royale, including Hajime.

Was it because he'd met Sanji that he'd had the dream?

He may not have allowed his conscience to think about anything Battle Royale related but he couldn't control his subconscious. After all, he was sure it was more than just a physical resemblance they shared.

They were both quick-tempered, though usually for a reason. Sanji had seemed angry at Luffy whenever he tried to steal food, and rightly so. Unfortunately, anger never stopped Luffy, so Sanji was never going to get anywhere with him. It was only with Zoro that Sanji seemed to be irrationally angry. Despite that and despite Ace not having known him long, he was still sure Sanji was a good person. Just as Hajime had been.

His contemplations went no further as he fell off the bed fast asleep. The glass of water he had been holding smashed as his hand hit the floor. Blood pooled in the puddle of water that formed on the carpet. Ace was oblivious to this as he slept.

_In other news my beta FXRG has retired so I'm on the look out for a new beta for this and Playing with Fire. If you're interested let me know in a review or send an email. The 'letting me know in a review' part was an unsubtle hint (even more so now I've pointed it out) that I would appreciate a couple of reviews. _


	3. Of Hearts and Dissecting Them

_A quick note on chapter length. I'm not sure how the first two chapters got so long but this is much more like my normal chapter length. I don't know whether it's being back at uni and having a crap load of work to do that's made this chapter shorter than the others but it just is shorter. Also I can't say whether future chapters will be this length or more like the other two. I just don't know._

_Anyway here's the next chapter. And I don't own anything One Piece._

Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo

Of Hearts and Dissecting Them

Sanji woke to find Ace collapsed on the floor. Broken glass and a pool of watery blood surrounded his right hand. He wasted no time in jumping out of bed to inspect the wound, waking Ace in the process. As Ace began to come round Sanji realised that the wound though healed could be more serious as glass may be inside.

"Do you have a first aid box?" Sanji was quick to ask.

"Huh…a what?" Ace replied still half asleep.

"A first aid box," Sanji relied his patience beginning to wear thin. "You hurt yourself last night, I need to take a look at it."

Ace took the palm Sanji was holding in his hands and brought it to his face for inspection. He found an angry red wound staring back at him. He didn't know what he'd done last night but he knew he fell asleep too soon.

"There's one in the bathroom," Ace finally replied.

"Ok, get it and meet me in the kitchen."

They both left the room, Ace taking the left to reach the bathroom and Sanji the right to reach the kitchen. It didn't take Sanji long to find a sharp knife since he'd got acquainted with where everything belonged whilst cooking the meal.

Sanji couldn't help but smirk a little as Ace came into the kitchen and a look of surprise spread across his face upon seeing Sanji brandishing a knife.

"I just need to open it up again to make sure there's no glass inside then I'll bandage you. If you can sleep through cutting yourself I'm sure you deal with it awake."

Ace put the first aid box down and held his hand out without a word of complaint and Sanji took it into his own. After removing a few items from the box he carefully used the knife to open the cut again. He used some gauze to soak up the blood and began to gently prise the cut open to get a better look inside. He soon found two small pieces of glass inside.

"Take this," Sanji instructed as he held the gauze out to Ace. He took it and continued to hold it over the wound as Sanji had done. Sanji reached for the pair of tweezers he had removed from the first aid box and turned his attention back to Ace. "This'll probably sting a little, but just bear with me ok."

As it was apparent Sanji was about to stick the tweezers into the cut Ace moved the gauze away to give him better access. It didn't take him long to pick out the two small pieces of glass and drop them on the side. He placed a fresh piece of gauze on the cut and bandaged it in place.

"That wasn't so bad was it?"

"Could have been worse. But how the hell are you so good at first aid? I barely know what half the stuff in that box is for."

"I work in a kitchen, basic first aid is pretty useful."

"I guess so." Ace made his way round Sanji and opened the tumble dryer. He took out all the clothes and handed them to Sanji since he had no clue what belonged to whom. "You can get changed while I wake Luffy and Zoro."

He left Sanji to sought out which clothes belonged to him and went to Luffy's room. He opened the door and with the light from the hall and the slightly parted curtains found it easy to make out the two figures in bed.

He smiled as he saw that Luffy was snuggled against Zoro's back. He couldn't help but wonder if having Shanks for an uncle and him for a brother had somehow affected Luffy. Did the boy think it was normal for one man to love another? Ace honestly couldn't tell.

It wasn't as if it mattered anyway. Just because Luffy was pressed as tight against Zoro as was probably humanly possible didn't mean he felt anything towards him. Maybe Ace was reading too much into it because of his own preferences.

"Time to get up," he called into the room.

"Is Sanji making breakfast?" Luffy asked still half asleep.

"He will be once he's finished getting dressed."

"Yahoo, Sanji's making breakfast!" Luffy exclaimed as he leapt from the bed all traces of sleep gone in an instant.

Ace quickly sidestepped Luffy as his brother charged for the kitchen. He was amazed that Luffy still hadn't grasped the idea that food took time to prepare. There was no way breakfast would be ready now but that hadn't stopped Luffy from making his meal charge. There was no hope for his brother Ace thought as he went to his room to get changed.

-------------------

"Is it ready yet?" Luffy asked as he came to halt in the kitchen doorway.

"Nowhere near ready."

Luffy pouted as he sat on one the stools in the kitchen. "Can't you make it quicker?"

"No, a good meal can't be rushed and I don't serve anything but good meals. Even if I could you wouldn't get anything till you were dressed."

Luffy took the hint and jumped from the stool and began to run back to his room. He noticed Zoro's clothes piled on the couch and decided to bring them to him. When he returned to his room he found Zoro had gone back to sleep.

He leapt onto the bed ad began jumping up and down. He was sure there was no way Zoro would be able to sleep through that. Zoro turned over to see Luffy bouncing around on the bed and waving a school uniform around. He was quick to get out of bed then since god only knew when Luffy would accidentally land on him.

"Oh you're awake now," Luffy remarked as he saw Zoro standing at the side of his bed.

"Hard not to be with you bounding around the place," Zoro said as he yawned. "I'm gonna grab a quick shower. Where are my clothes?"

Luffy extended the clothes he was holding out to Zoro. The green haired teen sighed; it would have to be his clothes that Luffy was waving around like a madman. He took the bundled up clothes from Luffy and headed to the bathroom.

Zoro showered quickly as he was unsure whether anyone else would want the shower. He made his way into the living room and found Luffy and Ace waiting for breakfast, both fully dressed. Apparently there was no need for him to have rushed his shower since no one else wanted it.

Luffy's eyes were trained on the kitchen door, obviously waiting for a sign to indicate that breakfast was ready. As soon as Sanji stepped through the door he didn't have to say a word before Luffy was on his feet and rushing to the kitchen.

He found breakfast laid out on the counter and began to tuck in. Ace and Zoro are quick on his heals both of them keen to get a start on their breakfast before Luffy finished his and started attacking theirs.

"We should do this again tonight," Luffy said through a mouthful of fish.

"You mean stay over here?" Zoro questioned.

"What else would he mean moron?"

"Shut it before I stick this somewhere unpleasant," Zoro snapped as he held one of his chopsticks in Sanji's general direction.

"I'm sure Sanji and Zoro should probably spend some time in their own homes," Ace said.

"Yeah, I probably should show my face back home," Zoro agreed.

"And I've got to work tonight," Sanji added.

"But you will come stay round again another time right?" Luffy questioned.

"I guess so, at some point," Zoro replied.

"I could come over sometimes when I've got a day off," Sanji said.

"Every time you have a day off?" Luffy asked. "I want you to cook for us as often as possible."

"Not every time I have a day off. I've got other things to do besides be your personal chef."

Ace's laughter at the two of them reminded Sanji he had other things to do. The bento boxes still needed to be prepared.

"So how many bento do I need to make?"

"I want four," Luffy declared.

"Give him three," Ace said. "Same for me."

"But I want four."

"You're having three Luffy."

"What about you marimo?" Sanji asked.

"Unfortunately I'm gonna need a couple," Zoro replied.

"Are you asking for my food?"

"I don't have a choice here, I'm out of money so can't buy anything from the canteen. Just shut up and make me some crappy bentos."

"You'll be lucky if I make you one with that attitude."

"This is where we keep the bento boxes," Ace cut in keen to stop a fight breaking out in his kitchen.

He walked over to a cupboard that was opposite his seat and opened it. The cupboard was filled with bento boxes of varying colours. He grabbed a stack of them and handed them to Sanji.

Once Sanji had finished making the bentos they were ready to leave. As they got to the door Luffy tried to drop his tie on the small table.

"What are you doing?" Zoro asked.

"I don't like ties, they're horrible," Luffy replied.

"You think anyone likes the damn things? I know I sure as hell don't but I wear it cos I have to."

Ace looked back to see Luffy was pouting. Luffy looked from Zoro to Ace's stern face and before Ace could even tell him to put his tie on Luffy was draping it round his neck and tying it loosely. Ace was amazed Luffy had put his tie on with minimal fuss.

"You can definitely stay over again Zoro," Ace said. "It's never been so easy to get him into his tie."

-------------------

For once Ace couldn't give a damn about either Marshall or Smoker-sensei. His thoughts were firmly fixed on a certain blond chef. Sanji had been so concerned about him and surprisingly gentle for someone cutting him that he couldn't help think about it.

He felt it would be a bad idea for him to fall for Sanji. If one thing led to another then he'd have no choice but to tell Sanji the truth. He knew if it came to it he'd be unable to lie. Even if he could he knew he wouldn't be able to think of a convincing lie to explain his scars.

On the other hand all he wanted was to rebuild his life and get it back to some semblance of normal. And he couldn't deny that there was nothing more normal than having crushes and dating.

But he still couldn't help thinking of the problems that would arise.

All he could was try to ignore any feelings he might have and move on with his life as best he could.

-------------------

Sanji's thoughts were as preoccupied with Ace as Ace's were with him. Besides seeming somewhat surprised to find him brandishing a kitchen knife in his direction Ace hadn't seemed phased by what had happened that morning. Most people would have been apprehensive to let someone cut them but Ace seemed to take it in his stride.

That wasn't even the strangest thing. Ace hadn't flinched once when the knife slid into his hand. Admittedly he had kept quite a firm grip on the hand to keep any movements to a minimum but he had still expected him to flinch a little.

Ace had only let out a slight hiss of pain. But now he thought about it Sanji couldn't even be sure that had happened.

There was definitely something strange about Ace. First his preoccupation with something Sanji had yet to figure out. Ace had told him it was because of Smoker-sensei but Sanji was finding that harder to believe. Now there was his unusual tolerance to pain.

It bothered him. But what bothered him more was that he didn't know why it bothered him.

-------------------

Nami had always considered herself to be an observant person. It hadn't taken her long to notice a change in Zoro and Sanji. It also had escaped her attention that the change had happened since Luffy and Ace had arrived.

Neither of them had beat up Luffy as much as she would have expected, Zoro would occasionally look at Luffy with a puzzled look on his face and the other day at lunch she had noticed Sanji looking at Ace in a way she couldn't figure out. It could have been part puzzled and part concentration but she wasn't sure. That combined with the fact that Sanji had yet to present her with perfectly prepared dish to aid Vivi's recovery was suspicious.

Even though their first lesson was biology with Kuro-sensei she couldn't resist trying to find out more.

"Hey Sanji," Nami whispered as she leaned closer to the blond. "Have you got that meal for Vivi?"

"I didn't get a chance to make it."

"How come?" Nami's suspicions were definitely aroused now. It was very unlike Sanji to not have done something for Vivi when he'd said he would.

"After you left Luffy cajoled me and Zoro into staying the night at the flat so I didn't really have the time or anything I needed to make Vivi-chan's meal."

"How is _he_," Nami began as she pointed her thumb in Luffy's direction, "capable of cajoling?"

"I have no idea. Before I could even protest he'd answered any objection I could have made. I was so shocked he'd formed more than one thought that I didn't say anything and he took that to mean yes. The our fate was sealed."

"Did you have a good time though?"

"Yeah I guess we did."

Nami now had a mission. It was obvious to her that there was something more than friendship between that group of boys. She knew for a fact that if Zoro and Sanji really hadn't wanted to stay over at Luffy and Ace's flat they wouldn't have.

That fact combined with the strange looks her friends had been giving Luffy and Ace meant there had to be something more between them. And that meant she had a project. She hadn't tried her hand at playing matchmaker before but now was as good as time as any to give it a go.

Who knew it could turn out to be profitable. Perhaps not in the financial sense (which was her favourite sense) but if she could get them together their dispositions might improve and Zoro and Sanji might not argue so much.

Besides she always enjoyed scheming in any form. She was sure matchmaking constituted a form of scheming. As soon as Vivi was better the two of them would have some serious scheming to do.

She was surprised from her thoughts when a heart was dropped onto the white tray in front of her. So much so that she couldn't help letting out a small scream before turning to see Kuro-sensei stood behind her.

"You wouldn't have been talking in my class now would you Nami-chan?"

She had to resist the urge to shudder. There was something about the way Kuro-sensei said 'chan' that set all the girls on edge. What was worse was that he knew this and exploited it at every opportunity.

She couldn't bring herself to answer him verbally so just shuck her head.

"I'm glad to hear it Nami-chan. And since you were paying such thorough attention there'll be no need for you to join another pair. I'm sure you'll be quite capable of dissecting your heart alone."

He moved along and dropped a heart onto the next tray. Nami truly hated him, he knew full well she hadn't paid any attention to him and this was his way of punishing her.

Tentatively she took the scalpel into her hand and regarded the heart wondering where she should cut first. She made a decision that the next time she was curious she'd let it wait till lunch. Though this didn't help decide where to cut first.

-------------------

It felt a bit lonely to be walking home with just Ace. Luffy was a bit disappointed that Zoro and Sanji wouldn't be staying with them again. But there was something he had to ask Ace and he couldn't ask him in front of either Zoro or Sanji.

He'd felt strangely happy waking up next to Zoro. He'd been happy before on many occasions. In fact most people accused him of being too happy. But something about waking up next to Zoro had felt different from the kinds of happiness he had felt before.

He had felt confused by this until he had thought of Uncle Shanks and Ben. After all Uncle Shanks was never happier than when he was with Ben and he knew the two of them really liked each other. So now he wasn't sure if this meant that he really liked Zoro. The only way he could think of figuring it out was to ask Ace.

When they got back to the flat Ace started to make snacks for them while Luffy ran to his room to get changed. When he returned to the living room he found Ace had removed his jacket, shirt and tie and was now sat on the couch with a mountain of sandwiches and a pot of tea on the small table in front of him. Ace had a half eaten sandwich in hand and was flicking through channels on the television.

This wasn't acceptable to Luffy, Ace had a head start on the sandwiches and that wasn't fair. He jumped onto the couch and grabbed two sandwiches and crammed them both into his mouth.

In no time at all the mountain of sandwiches had been reduced to a mole hill then nothing at all. Now the two brothers were drinking tea as Ace resumed flicking through the channels in the hopes of finding something to watch. It seemed useless though, until you hit eight in the evening television was usually a dull affair.

"Ace I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

"Go ahead," Ace replied as he picked up his cup of tea.

"Well I was wondering how you knew if you liked someone, I mean really like them like Uncle Shanks likes Ben?"

The following response was the last one Luffy had expected. Ace had sprayed his face with a mouthful of tea. He was lucky the liquid had had time to cool down whilst they had been eating, it was still quite warm but not scalding and whilst it had turned his face red it wasn't going to blister.

He jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen to splash his face with cold water. Even though it wasn't scalding it still wasn't comfortable.

"What did you do that for?" Luffy demanded as he returned to the couch.

"Sorry," Ace stated trying his best to suppress his laughter. "You just took me by surprise."

"So how do you know?"

"Just give me a minute, this isn't exactly the easiest thing to describe." A few moments of silence passed between them as Ace thought about the best way to describe it for Luffy. "If you think about that person more than anything else then you know you like them. Also if they're the first and last things you think about then I'd say it's safe to say you like them."

Luffy sat for a moment with his index finger pressed against his lip and a look of concentration on his face. Ace had to resist the urge to laugh. It was seldom he saw his brother looking this way that it amused him but he didn't want to upset Luffy while he was seriously thinking.

Luffy was trying to decide which he thought about more Zoro or food. He wasn't even sure he really thought about Zoro it was more like he was always there lurking in his mind whether he wanted the green haired teen there or not. It seemed to him that Zoro had just decided to make a home inside his head. Whereas food he knew he thought about.

"You come to any conclusion yet?" Ace asked snapping Luffy from his thoughts.

"I don't think I like him cos I think about food more than him."

"In your case Luffy I think it's ok for you to think about food more than him."

If that was the case then maybe he did like Zoro after all.

-------------------

Zoro felt strangely cold as he lay in bed that night. He wasn't sure but he thought Luffy had ended up snuggled against him last night. He had a vague memory of being woken up and a warm mass, which he had taken to be Luffy, pressed against his back.

Then of course he had fallen back to sleep and the only thing he knew for certain was that he had been woken by Luffy leaping around the bed and swinging his clothes around.

What bothered him was the first time he woke. Had it been real? If it hadn't that meant he'd dreamt or imagined it in his half awake state. He didn't know what disturbed him more the idea of Luffy being snuggled up to him or him imagining Luffy snuggling up to him.

Then again he wasn't even sure if either were disturbing to him anymore. He couldn't understand it but his patience with Luffy was more than with any other person. God only knew why since Luffy could be more irritating than the average person.

There just seemed to be something between them. He couldn't describe or define it. He was merely aware that it existed.

The awareness of this existence was causing him some trouble. He wasn't even sure if he knew his own mind anymore. What was perhaps worse was that he wasn't sure he cared anymore.

No one had ever been able to get through his defences like Luffy had and he was willing to see where this friendship with Luffy would lead.

-------------------

Ace was somewhat pleased to find out his morning suspicions had turned out to be right. It certainly appeared that having a gay uncle and brother had had some influence over Luffy.

He had been startled that Luffy had asked him about how you knew whether you liked someone. The question itself wasn't what had startled him; it had been the fact that Luffy had asked him a serious question. His little brother had ever asked him something serious before, as he was content to take life as it came to him. So it wasn't surprising that he had ended up spraying tea in Luffy's face.

Even though Luffy hadn't told him it was Zoro he liked, Ace knew. He also knew Luffy would tell him when he was ready to or else when circumstances made him.

He was happy for Luffy. Despite Sanji seeming to hate Zoro Ace believed he was a good person. There was certainly no doubt that he could be good for Luffy if the two of them could get together.

In the end he was just glad one of them could have a normal life.

_As always reviews are appreciated. This fic still needs a beta so PM, email or let me know in a review if you're interested in filling that position._


	4. Library Adventures

_The usual, sorry for the wait, don't own One Piece. You guys must know the drill by now._

_Thanks to yo wuz up for betaing. _

Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo

Library Adventures

Now Luffy was sure he liked Zoro, he wondered what he should do about it. He supposed it would help if he knew if Zoro liked him or not but he didn't know how to find that out. He thought he could try asking Ace again but he wasn't sure if it would work out this time.

Ace knew Zoro about as well as he did. Luffy was no expert on the subject but something told him that if he was going to ask someone, it would have to be someone that knew Zoro well.

He could ask any one of their friends and they'd probably be able to give him some sort of clue though something told Luffy Nami or Vivi would be the best bet. After all, girls were supposed to know more about this sort of thing.

He still wasn't sure asking either of them would be the right thing to do. It felt like it would be cheating, to have one of them tell him the answer to this little issue, and it would be something that was too important to be cheated on.

Besides it would probably be fun to try and figure it out for himself. That was if he could think of a plan for finding it out Zoros feelings.

-------------------

Nami was grateful it was a Thursday. Usopp always went to go visit Kaya in the hospital on Thursdays both before and after school. All she needed now was Vivi to be feeling better so she could confide her suspicions to her friend.

She was pleased to see Vivi open the door to her apartment wearing her school uniform. The blue haired girl slipped on her shoes and called a goodbye to whoever remained inside.

"I'm glad you're feeling better cos there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Nami said as soon as the door was shut behind them.

"It's nice to know my absence hasn't affected your way of life. So what is it?"

"It's just something I realised the other day. I thought maybe there was something going on with Zoro and Luffy and Sanji and Ace."

"What do you mean… something?"

"I know you've been ill so you might not have noticed it but I think Zoro likes Luffy and Sanji likes Ace."

"What makes you think that? I mean Zoro doesn't like anyone and Ace isn't exactly Sanji's type. Besides Sanji's never seemed interested in guys as more than a one-night stand."

"Trust me on this. The reason you didn't get a perfectly prepared meal to aid your recovery was because Sanji was unable to say no to a sleep over at Luffy and Ace's apartment."

"You're kidding?"

Nami shook her head. The look of shock on Vivi's face seemed to suggest that she was beginning to think Nami's idea was at least plausible.

"I think it'd be a good idea to set them up. I mean if we can get Zoro and Sanji happy then maybe they won't fight as much and everyone's life'll be easier."

"That could be true. All right I'll help you set them up. You had any ideas how to do it yet?"

"Not yet, I've not had long enough time to think about it and besides its Zoro and Sanji we're talking about. It could be awkward coming up with something that'd work for those two. For the time being I think the only thing we can do is just keep an eye on them and see what happens."

In the usual alley Sanji could be found indulging in a cigarette. Nami knew this opportunity was too good to pass up. With Vivi there to help her she might be able to prise something from Sanji about Ace.

Sanji was as always, overjoyed to see the two girls. She sometimes found it hard to believe Sanji swung both ways, even if he tended to go for guys as Vivi had said as a one-night stand.

"Nami-san, Vivi-chan," he called as he rushed over with their bento boxes in hand. "You look as radiant as ever Nami-san and Vivi-chan you look so beautiful no one would believe you'd just been ill."

The two of them looked at each other Sanji had just presented them the perfect opportunity to start questioning him about Ace. With one look at Vivi Nami knew the other girl was thinking along the same lines as her.

"Is that why you didn't make me anything when I was sick? You didn't believe I was ill?"

"I'd never accuse you of lying Vivi-chan. It's just that I ended up sleeping over at Luffy and Ace's apartment so I didn't have the right ingredients to prepare something for you."

This was what Nami had really been waiting for, the chance to ask about sleeping arrangements. She had wanted to do it the other day but with Kuro-sensei mentally torturing her she hadn't been able to. After biology class there hadn't been a chance to casually bring it up again.

"Did you share a bed with Luffy cos he seems cute?" Nami asked. "If you overlook him being a bit idiotic I'd have said he was your type."

Sanji looked shocked, as Nami knew he would be. She knew he accepted that they knew about his 'lifestyle choices' as he preferred to call it but he hated to talk to them about it. This as far as she was concerned would make this whole thing easier, if he was flustered the more likely he was to let something slip.

"Whatever my type is it's not Luffy."

"So would I be right in assuming that it was Ace you slept with?"

Nami had to smile at Vivi's choice of words. 'Slept' held so many more connotations than 'sharing a bed'.

This was why Nami loved having Vivi to back her up during a questioning like this. Between the two of them it was easy to keep their subject on their toes much more efficiently than on their own, that was saying something considering how well she could get information from someone.

"Yeah I stayed in Ace's bed."

"So Ace is more your type?" Nami asked.

"What? Why do I have a type all of a sudden?"

"Everyone has a type," Vivi stated.

"Considering you're not so fussy about women we just figured you were choosier with guys," Nami added.

"So is Ace your type?" Vivi pressed.

"I don't have a type."

Nami noticed that Sanji's head was whipping between the two of them pretty fast. It was a good sign that he was flustered and would give them something.

"So what's with all the interest in Ace?" Nami asked.

"What interest in Ace?"

"I'm not blind Sanji; I've noticed you looking at him."

"I do that, I look at people when I talk to them."

"I know that, it's just that it seems to me you're showing more interest in Ace than in Luffy. I'm just making an observation."

"It's just, I don't know, there's something about him. I just get the feeling that he's hiding something."

"And you're curious to know what he's hiding?" Vivi assumed.

"I guess so."

"I see," Nami said as she and Vivi turned to look at each other. "We'll see you later Sanji."

As they left Nami noticed Sanji fumbling for another cigarette and lighting up. It certainly seemed that they'd managed to fluster him. And they'd managed to get him to admit Ace was interesting, that coming from Sanji was quite a confession.

-------------------

Zoro was sat in class with Luffy's desk still stuck to his own due to the fact Luffy still hadn't got his own textbooks. Most people would have tried to get their own copies as soon as possible. Then again Luffy hardly fell into the category of 'most people'.

Zoro wanted to have his books back to himself. He was fairly sure his failing academic career was not being helped by Luffy constantly playing with his books in what Zoro assumed was either an attempt to make sense of the subject or amuse himself.

Whichever it was Zoro was sure the only way he was going to get his books back would be to take action himself. The only reason it mattered so much to him was that he needed to keep his barely passing grades to keep his spot on the kendo team.

He looked over to see Luffy working on his own unique style of doodle on the corner of a page. That would be another perk to having his books back; he wouldn't be confronted by Luffy's artwork every time he opened a book.

"Have you thought about getting your own books yet Luffy?" Zoro whispered to avoid catching Robin's attention.

"Why would I need my own books?"

"Sometimes I need my books to be the right way round and on the right page," Zoro explained. Luffy just looked at him puzzled. Apparently Luffy needed more convincing about the necessities of having your own books. "You'll need your own copies of the books to do the homework."

"No I don't, you can just come over to my place again. We could do homework together using your books."

Zoro despaired as to how he could ever reclaim sole ownership of his books. There had to be some way to convince Luffy that getting his own books would be a good idea. There was only one way he could think of. The only problem was it could turn out to be a bit risky but it looked like he had no other choice.

"If you get your own books we can have a library adventure at lunch," Zoro stated whilst wondering how much he'd live to regret those words if Luffy accepted.

"We can't have a library adventure at lunch, lunch time is for eating."

"You've usually finished eating five minutes into lunch break."

Zoro could tell Luffy was torn about what to do. The idea of an adventure seemed to really appeal to him. The only problem was lunch really appealed to him too. After a few moments Luffy nodded.

"Ok let's have a library adventure," Luffy confirmed.

"Luffy," Robin called from the front of the class. They both turned to face their history teacher. "I just asked you who the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate was."

"I don't know."

"Maybe if you'd paid attention you'd know the answer."

"I don't think I would even if I had paid attention," Luffy replied with a grin.

Zoro had to resist the urge to smack his head against the desk. Luffy really was a hopeless idiot.

-------------------

As much as Sanji loved Nami and Vivi he hated it when they ganged up to question him, especially if the questions hinted at his other preferences. He'd learned to live with them knowing that he swung both ways and he could now honestly say he didn't mind them knowing. It was just that he preferred to be the suave ladies man around them.

That image didn't hold up if they were asking him about his taste in guys.

He couldn't help but wonder what they were trying to get at. He knew the two of them well enough to know that they only teamed up on someone like that when Nami was trying to get something and Vivi just got dragged into it. Either that or something had sparked her curiosity and she would do anything to settle it, dragging Vivi along for the ride again.

The first time they had ever done it to him had resulted in them finding out he was bi, not to mention leaving him feeling mentally violated. Something he had never quite got used to as he was still feeling violated even though a few hours had passed since they'd interrogated him.

Something told him it was the first revelation they'd made that had lead to this latest barrage of questions. Nami had no doubt caught him looking at Ace and become curious as to why he was doing it. Then she had let Vivi in on her suspicions that morning and the rest was history.

In the end he couldn't blame them. It had been his fault for not being more careful. He knew Nami well enough to know she was always interested in the goings on of her friends, either looking for something to blackmail them with or a way to help them if they had a problem. It was one of the many things he loved about her; she could switch from being devious to caring without batting an eye.

If it was apparent to him that he had been paying close attention to Ace ever since his arrival then it was blatant to Nami.

He had to admit there was something about Ace that was intriguing, something that had caught hold of his attention and refused to let go. Maybe he was a bit attracted to the older boy, after all he was attractive.

Admittedly Ace wasn't the type he'd usually go for. Nami and Vivi had been right in thinking that in terms of looks alone Luffy was more his type. Sanji was just grateful that he managed to keep his head enough to not reveal to them that he did in fact have a type.

Facially there was nothing wrong with Ace; in fact he had a rather pleasing face to look at. There was something about how the boyish freckles contrasted with the otherwise manly appearance that Sanji had to admit he kind of liked.

It was just that he always tended to go for boys with a slimmer frame. There was something about muscular builds that tended to put him off. Maybe they reminded him too much of Zoro. God only knew that was one person he never wanted to sleep with.

With Ace it was different. He wasn't repulsed in the least at having shared a bed with him (something he would be if he ever had to share a bed with Zoro).

All he could think was that there was something about Ace's personality that made him overlook any prejudices he might have based on physicality alone.

-------------------

Zoro had been right when he'd thought suggesting a visit to the library could be an adventure, might end up being a bit risky. A bit didn't even begin to cover the risk he'd taken. Something was telling him he would have been better off getting Luffy's library card and trying to get the books for him by himself. Surely it would have been easier to explain why his face and the photo on the card didn't match rather than trying to explain Luffy's behaviour.

He was quite sure there was no explaining Luffy's behaviour. A team of psychologists with five years would probably come up with no explanation for him.

In the ten minutes they'd been in the library Luffy had tried to throw all the books off one shelf in an attempt to find hidden library treasure and tried to scale three different shelves to get a layout of the land.

What anybody would want to hide in the library Zoro couldn't even begin to guess. As for the lay of the land Zoro was fairly sure row after row of shelves would look pretty much the same no matter what angle you approached it from.

Why he wasn't killing Luffy Zoro wasn't sure. By all rights the boy should have been dead three times over. Nevertheless Luffy remained alive and desperately trying to escape Zoro's grasp. If he wasn't going to kill him Zoro at least had to try and restrain Luffy whilst he tried to figure out the damned Dewey Decimal System. Why there couldn't be signs with subject heading over each shelf he wasn't sure, it would be a lot easier than a string of numbers that meant bugger all to him.

As Zoro was scrolling down the long reference list, still trying to figure the system out Luffy managed to tear free from his hold. Zoro was after him in an instant but he wasn't fast enough. Before he could stop him Luffy had managed to climb up the nearest shelf.

"Get down from there now!" Zoro insisted feeling somewhat like a mother with a young, uncontrollable child.

"The view from here's much better Zoro; I'll be able to find those books in no time. Which ones do I need?"

Zoro despaired as the situation grew from bad to worse. In the few moments Luffy had been up there he'd managed to gather a fair sized crowd of spectators and that had of course attracted the librarian. Though Zoro was fairly sure she would have been making her way over to them through the crowd. A student on top of the shelves was something Zoro was fairly sure a librarian was bound to notice.

He didn't scare easily. In fact Zoro couldn't remember the last time he'd been scared. But the librarians face was turning his blood cold. And then her mouth opened. Zoro had never heard such a high-pitched screech in all his life. It was such a harsh sound he was having a hard time making out what she was saying. He supposed it didn't matter; it didn't take a genius to figure out the gist of what she was saying.

Whatever she'd said didn't matter, the pitch had been enough to startle Luffy so that he fell off the shelf. He landed on his ass, seemingly quite painful if the thud that accompanied the fall was anything to go by. But Luffy just ran a hand through his hair and laughed.

Zoro explained the situation to the librarian whilst Luffy continued to laugh at his recent tumble. The librarian looked down her nose at the two of them in a way Zoro was sure only elderly, female librarians had mastered. She told them to wait outside and she would get the books for them. Zoro was only too glad to hand over the list of books and Luffy's library card then lead him outside.

"That was fun, we should do it again," Luffy insisted.

"There are a lot of words to describe what that was, and fun is not one of them."

"You didn't have a good time?" Luffy asked as a look of disappointment settled in on his face.

"Oddly enough, no I didn't."

"We'll have more fun next time," Luffy said as a smile spread across his face once more.

As the librarian handed over the books and Luffy's card Zoro swore there wouldn't be a next time. No more adventures anywhere, especially in libraries.

-------------------

Luffy couldn't understand why Zoro had seemed so annoyed in the library. Zoro had told him they were going to have a library adventure and so that was what he had set out to do.

Libraries were boring places filled with shelves and books and computers. The only thing he could do to make an adventure of it was to climb shelves. He had been right in thinking it gave him a better view, if the librarian hadn't interrupted them Luffy was sure he would have found all the books they needed before Zoro figured out that complicated number thing.

If Zoro had just joined him up on the shelf he would have seen the adventure. Instead Zoro had been too busy trying to restrain him to actually have an adventure.

This bothered Luffy quite a lot. If Zoro didn't want to have adventures with him then maybe Zoro didn't like him all that much. After all everyone loved adventures, so if you didn't want to have one it must be because you didn't like the person you were with.

It wasn't a very pleasing thought to him but Luffy was just a little pleased that he'd come to this conclusion by himself.

Now that he'd worked out Zoro didn't seem to like him he knew he had to figure out some way to change that. There had to be some way to make Zoro like having adventures with him and therefore like him.

Maybe it was all to do with the location. Libraries were hardly the best place to have an adventure. You needed somewhere more exciting, but where?

There had to be loads of exciting places in Tokyo to have an adventure so why was it so hard to think of one.

He supposed there was always Akihabara. The people on that TV drama always looked like they were having adventures in Akihabara. Then again if the TV was to be believed, which Luffy was fairly sure it was, it was pretty much otakus that went to Akihabara. Maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to take Zoro there for an adventure.

He could always go to Ikebukuro. That other TV drama seemed to suggest it was a bit of a dangerous place so it had to be good for an adventure. They could end up in a fight with some yakuza, that would be really exciting and Zoro would probably enjoy it, he was on the kendo team so he must enjoy fighting.

Now that he'd decided where they should go for their next adventure he just had to figure out how he should ask Zoro. Maybe it would be best if he didn't mention they'd be having an adventure.

-------------------

Ace was fairly sure he was in some sort of trouble. Sanji had been staring at him all lunch, or maybe just looking. It was entirely possible he was imagining everything and that was where the trouble came in. The fact that he was noticing what or who Sanji was looking at was a clear indication to him that he definitely liked the younger boy.

There had never been any doubt in his mind that he found Sanji attractive. In fact he'd have been surprised if he hadn't found himself attracted to the chef. The problem was he couldn't seem to stop himself noticing things about Sanji. Things like Sanji looking at him.

He couldn't help but wonder if there was a possibility that Sanji was attracted to him. If they were in any other circumstances Ace would be keen to try and find out what Sanji felt towards him. However, the circumstances they were in were so far from ideal they might as well be on another continent.

How was he supposed to tell anyone, yet alone someone he was interested in, that he was a murderer?

He had never once thought about how he would explain to someone what had happened to him. So far it had never been necessary to do so. He'd never had to tell Luffy anything, Luffy knew his class had been selected and once it was known that he was the survivor there was no need for any explanations.

Nothing had ever been said about it between the two of them. Luffy had just been there as he was waking up in the hospital bed, holding his hand with a big grin spreading over his face as he told Uncle Shanks that everything was alright, that Ace had just fallen asleep again. Ace had then turned to see his Uncle at the other side of his bed with Benn stood just behind him both of them with smiles starting to show on their faces.

Ace remembered how he'd smiled back then in spite of everything because Luffy was the same as always. Somehow things didn't seem quite as bad as they really were when he looking at Luffy's innocent smiling face and knowing that his brother could still look at him and smile.

That had meant the world to him back then. It still did.

He just couldn't imagine anyone else being able to look him in the eye and smile after they knew what he'd done. And that terrified him. All he wanted was to be able to have friends to try and have as normal a life as possible.

The thought of what people would think of him if they knew the truth scared the hell out of him.

_I'm going to go completely off topic for a moment and say I'm fairly sure Smoker has a crush on Luffy. I noticed the other day when watching the episode where they all escape from Crocodile's casino that when Luffy tells Smoker he doesn't hate him Smoker blushes. _

_If anyone's curious the two Japanese TV dramas I mentioned were __AkihabaraDEEP__ and Ikebukuro West Gate Park. _

_Anyhoo, as much as I really want to continue writing this fic I think I'm going to put it on hiatus for a bit. That's because I really want to finish Playing with Fire as soon as possible. I've been working on it for years and I'd like to be able to finally say 'that's it I'm finished'. Rest assured I'll come back to this as soon as I can._

_So as always reviews are appreciated. There's also one thing I'd like to ask; I still plan on doing a sad ending for this but would anyone be interested in an alternate happy ending? Basically I'd branch the story off at an appropriate point and post all the subsequent chapters as A and B (or something like that) to let you know which is the happy and sad. Why I'm trying to create more work for myself I don't know, but I've been in an unusually happy mood (for me at least) so I guess it kind of inspired me. So let me know, if there's enough interest I'll do it. It probably won't take much, only around five people. _

_Sorry for the large ramble._

_I will write the next chapter…but will I really write the next chapter. _


	5. Plans

_Thanks to yo wuz up for betaing. I don't own One Piece, you guys know this so I think I'm gonna give up saying it every chapter._

Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo

Plans

Luffy was excited to see Zoro at school. He didn't even mind when Ace reprimanded him about his tie. He actually put it on, knowing that the sooner they left the apartment the sooner they would get to school and the sooner he would see Zoro.

He had bought the swordsman character for his One Piece game that he named Zoro, and wanted to tell the actual Zoro all about it. He had even given his character green hair; it was as perfect a computer version of Zoro as he could ever create. Of course it didn't look exactly like his friend but that couldn't be helped, still for what it was Luffy knew it was the best he could make.

Luffy thought that if Zoro was pleased that it might mean he liked him. It was the first step he was going to take in trying to figure out if his friend liked him.

With breakfast done and all their school things ready he and Ace left their apartment. Luffy bounded through the streets in excitement till they reached the school gates. He could see Zoro about to walk through the gates and broke into a run, launching himself at the green haired boy. As he collided with Zoro they both crashed to the floor.

"What the hell was that for? Can't you just say 'hello' like a normal person?" Zoro demanded from under Luffy as he punched the boy's head.

Luffy giggled. "Sorry Zoro I just have something I want to tell you."

"And it couldn't have waited the extra minute it would have taken you to walk over to me, rather than launch yourself at me?"

"Nope!" Luffy exclaimed as he picked himself up off the swordsman.

"Well what is it?" Zoro asked as he stood now Luffy was no longer sprawled over him.

"Do you remember my One Piece game that I showed you?" Zoro looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded to let Luffy know he remembered the game. "Well I just got my swordsman character last night. He has green hair and is called Zoro. He's just like you." Luffy didn't notice the puzzled expression on Zoros face and continued his explanation. "Well he's not really just like you, that's cos the people that designed the game don't know what you look like. But it's as close as I could get."

"You really did that?"

Luffy nodded eagerly and for the first time noticed the confused expression on Zoros face. He couldn't tell if his friend was happy or not.

"Are you mad?" Luffy asked.

Zoro shook his head. "No, I'm not mad," he confirmed.

Even though Zoro said he wasn't angry Luffy still couldn't tell if he was pleased. That confused expression was difficult to interpret.

"Why don't you come round tonight or tomorrow and we can stay up late and play it, then we can have a big lie in cos there won't be any school." Luffy suggested.

"Alright, you're on. I can come round this Saturday after training."

"Really?" Luffy questioned with a big grin on his face.

"Really," Zoro confirmed as he ruffled Luffy's hair.

--

Ace wasn't surprised when Luffy blurted out the plans he'd made with Zoro at lunch. He had been able to tell that something had Luffy excited even before they left the apartment. It was clear now that Luffy had been planning another get together. He was glad that Zoro had agreed he didn't want to deal with a disappointed Luffy all weekend. And it meant that maybe there was some hope for the two of them.

"You should all come," Luffy announced. "Sanji can make more good food and everyone can stay over then we can all go to Ikebukuro Sunday."

"Why Ikebukuro?" Zoro asked.

"I just want to go there."

"I can't, I have to help Bellemere in the store at the weekends," Nami explained. "Though I guess I could drop by Saturday evening for an hour or so afterwards."

"And you'll stay?"

"No cos I have to be up to help with the store again on Sunday. Unless I clear it with Bellemere about a week in advance; she'll never go for it."

"Next time I'll make a plan in advance so you can come too. What about you Usopp?"

"I spend my weekends at the hospital with Kaya so she'll be expecting me. I could stop by with Nami for a bit Saturday evening though."

"Who's Kaya?"

"She's an old friend of mine; I've known her since I was a small boy. Before we started high school she developed a serious heart condition and has to stay in the hospital. If she could get a heart transplant she'd be fine and could come back to school but it's really difficult to get one here and she's too scared to go abroad for one."

Ace noticed as Vivi placed a hand on Usopp's shoulder. He looked up at her with a sad smile. It was clear that he really cared for this girl Kaya; it was quite a large possibility that he loved her. He could sympathise a bit with how Usopp must be feeling. He had seen someone he loved dead and Usopp was facing the reality of possibly having to see someone he cared for die. The long nosed boy must be going through hell but he was doing the best he could to hide it, for his friends and obviously for Kaya.

He found himself looking at Usopp with a new respect. He knew how hard it was to hide things from people you cared for. Whilst it was completely different with him the situation was vaguely similar enough that he could sympathise and respect Usopp.

Luffy looked sad for a moment. "That's too bad. Could I come to the hospital with you some time and meet her?" Usopp looked at him puzzled for a moment. "I can't really help her get better," Luffy continued, "but maybe I could help cheer her up for a little bit. It must be horrible to have to stay in a hospital for so long."

Usopp's smile seemed to spread to his eyes more, losing its sad edge. "I think Kaya would like that. I'll mention it to her Saturday and let you know when I come round what the verdict is."

"I hope that I can meet her," Luffy said returning Usopp's smile. "How about you Vivi, you haven't had a chance to see our apartment yet."

"I know I haven't but I have plans with a friend this Saturday and I've no idea what time we'll be done. I promise I'll come round some time next week after school though."

"Sanji you've got to come and cook for us."

"Sorry but I'm working the close shift on Saturday."

Ace felt relieved and disappointed. He knew it was a bad idea to spend more time around Sanji than was necessary yet he couldn't help finding himself wanting to spend more time with the blond.

"So you could come round after, it won't matter if it's a bit late cos we're gonna stay up late playing games anyway."

"I thought I told you before that after cleaning down I'm exhausted and just want to sleep."

"You can sleep at ours. Ace won't mind if you go to sleep before him, will you Ace?"

"Luffy you can't expect Sanji to come round at your every whim to cook for you. He must be busy working part time in a restaurant and trying to keep up with his school work," Ace tried to explain.

"But I want Sanji to come."

"Sorry, I'll come some other time when I'm not busy."

Luffy sat with his arms folded across his chest pouting. Sanji just stared back at him and shook his head.

"Fine, but you're coming round to ours again as soon as possible. You make great breakfasts."

"Deal," Sanji agreed.

Ace almost felt himself breathe a sigh of relief. He knew Sanji would be round at their flat a lot; Luffy would have it no other way. He also knew that of all the times Sanji could come round, Luffy would attempt and get him to stay over as often as possible. This would mean that the two of them, would be sharing a bed.

He was prepared to deal with that; just not as often as Luffy would like though.

--

Zoro hadn't been sure how to respond when Luffy had told him about his new character. He had half expected the boy to forget his idea as soon as they'd started eating the meal that night.

When Luffy had brought it up out of nowhere he had been a bit confused. But mostly he was flattered. Luffy had picked him out of all the others to be the basis of his new character. There was only a green haired swordsman called Zoro that had been added to his games crew. There was no foul mouthed cook, no devious woman, no liar and sweet blue haired girl; though Zoro couldn't quite fathom how Vivi would make a good addition to pirate crew. The girl was too sweet for pillaging and plundering and all those other piratey activities, so he was willing to let that one slid. But any of the others could fit perfectly into a pirate crew.

It was just him.

He was also surprised at his eagerness to spend the night again so he could play with this graphic version of himself. He was also looking forward to going to Ikebukuro, even though thoughts of that disastrous trip to the library had him left him somewhat worried.

There was bound to be more chances for Luffy to cause trouble in Ikebukuro but for some reason it didn't seem to bother him so much. Maybe because of the word 'adventure' hadn't specifically been mentioned. If Luffy had said they were going to Ikebukuro for an adventure he was sure he'd be more dubious about the whole outing.

Instead it was just going to be some friends on a day out. They could go to an arcade, eat out maybe watch a film. Although any of these activities could hold the potential for Luffy to start an adventure, the boy had managed to turn a trip to the library into an adventure for Christ's sake, because the word adventure hadn't been mentioned he was hoping it would just be a normal day out. Or at least as normal as possible of a day out, as long as Luffys mind would be held in check.

He was looking forward to the weekend. Not really because of all the things they had planned to do. It wasn't like the thought of controlling a graphic version of him got him excited. He just wanted to spend more time with Luffy for reasons he couldn't fathom.

What struck him as stranger than just wanting to spend time with Luffy was that he wasn't bothered about spending another night in the boy's bed. He might even say that he wanted to. He wanted to share that warmth again; he wanted to see if Luffy snuggled up to him or if it was all his imagination. Zoro this time was hoping for more of a gentler wake up this time round.

--

Nami and Vivi were standing in line waiting for their turn on the gymnastics equipment, discussing the task they had set themselves. Or rather that Nami had set them and Vivi agreed to be involved with.

"I still have no idea what we should do," Nami admitted. She hated not having a clear plan in mind but this was probably one of the most difficult tasks she'd set. "I've got no idea what Zoro thinks, that guy's tougher to crack than a brazil nut."

"And all we know about Sanji is that he finds Ace intriguing," Vivi added. "This could mean anything."

"If that's all we've got to go on maybe the best place to start would be in trying to unravel the mysteries of Ace."

"Doesn't that put us right back at square one though? I mean where do we start with that? It's the same situation we're in now."

Nami had to stop and think. Vivi had a point; Ace was a very guarded person he wasn't letting anything slip to them. It was possible that they could get some information from Luffy but the boy seemed to defend anyone he was close with to extreme lengths. Even if they both asked him questions it was likely he'd just not answer or change the subject.

It was her turn on the horse. She vaulted over it and went to join the line for the next piece of equipment.

Luffy was out of the question. All she had to do was consider the time when he wanted to have stern words with Marshall to realise that was a bad idea.

But Marshall might have something she realised. He seemed to have taken a pretty strong dislike to Ace and the story he'd told to explain it whilst plausible hadn't seemed convincing enough to her.

Nami broke into a grin as Vivi joined her in the line after her turn on the horse.

"Marshall might be able to tell us something," Nami said.

"I suppose he might," Vivi agreed hesitantly.

"This is the only lead we've got we either follow it or go back to square one."

"Ok, it might not be much of a plan but I guess it's the only one we've got."

--

Usopp was glad Luffy had wanted to come meet Kaya. It had been a long time since any of his friends had gone to the hospital with him. He could understand why, it must be hard for them to watch two people be in denial about Kaya's health and to have to take part in that denial.

Usopp didn't want to remind Kaya what was at stake. Kaya already knew. His job at the hospital was to cheer her up with tall tales. He had a feeling Luffy would support his stories perfectly.

Of course he couldn't know for sure but something about Luffy struck him as naïve in a good way. He could imagine Luffy sitting on the edge of his seat getting more and more excited as Usopp told how he thwarted a shoplifter's attempt to rob a store by throwing a can of beans at his head and knocking the man unconscious.

The way Luffy responded would make Kaya laugh more. He was sure of it. That was all he ever wanted to cheer Kaya up, to remind her that there was more outside hospitals. She had been in them so long now he sometimes wondered if she remembered what it was like outside them.

His tall tales were a slight exaggeration of what life outside hospitals was like but he had to juice it up a little to bring a smile to her face. If he told her he went to school, went home, did his homework, watched TV and played video games every time he visited her she'd get bored very quickly.

He didn't want her to be bored; he wanted her to laugh and smile and for the duration of his visit hopefully forget what she was facing.

Usopp had faced a fair deal of reprimands from his friends when he had told then what he did at the hospital, especially from Sanji whom thought it an insult to tell even the smallest lie to a lady. But he had agreed to get them all to visit Kaya with him.

He remembered with pride how he had left the hospital with Sanji and the blond had clapped a hand on his shoulder and apologized to him, and praised him for putting on a brave face under such circumstances. How Zoro had said he was wrong to criticise him and how Nami and Vivi had told him to keep up his good work.

They had all come with him occasionally to visit Kaya but they had found it too much and one by one had stopped coming, except for Vivi who still went with him on weekends sometimes. Kaya had never complained even though he knew she missed seeing other people. She had taken it with good grace and always asked him to pass her regards to his friends and her thanks to Sanji who still often made her bentos because hospital food was the worst known to man and not fit for a lady like Kaya.

For her to meet Luffy and no doubt Ace too (because Usopp couldn't imagine Ace letting Luffy loose in a hospital with no one but him to reign in the energetic boy) would cheer her up a great deal. He was sure of it.

--

Sanji was a little disappointed that Ace hadn't pushed for him to stay at the apartment. He probably would have given in and agreed if Ace had just asked him once to stay the night, twice at the most.

It almost felt like Ace didn't want him there because he was trying to keep something hidden and he could tell that Sanji wanted to find out his secret. It wasn't just him Ace was trying to hide this from; he was hiding it from everyone. But he seemed the biggest threat and so Ace was trying to keep fair distance between them.

Sanji truly believed that Ace didn't intentionally want to keep people away. Something was forcing him to. He wanted to find out what that was so he could show Ace that he didn't have to keep things from them, that they would accept him no matter what.

He thought Ace could be as friendly as Luffy though in a more reserved manner. After all even though he was hiding something he had been nothing but nice, in that infuriatingly distant way of his.

What Sanji really wanted was to get through the walls Ace had put up round himself. No, he didn't just want to get through them he wanted to smash the damn things down with a sledgehammer.

Contrary to what Nami and Vivi seemed to think it wasn't because he was attracted to Ace. Though he was willing to admit the older teen was attractive. Whether he wanted to sleep with Ace was not what any of this was about. Besides which he wasn't really sure if he wanted to sleep with Ace.

This was about him wanting to be a friend to the dark haired teen. Lord knew he looked like he needed a good friend.

Whatever it was he sure Luffy knew about it. But something told him Ace couldn't confide in Luffy the way he needed to.

He was determined that he would get through to Ace and he was determined he would be there for him.

--

They had very little reason to approach Marshall. For them to do so in public was strange and they both knew it. Yet they were still stood at the school gates waiting for him. The two of them had no other choice as they saw it.

When they saw that Marshall was approaching the gates Nami stepped up to him.

"Excuse me Marshall-san," she said with slight hesitation, which was unusual for Nami.

"What d'ya want?"

"Well we were wondering if you could tell us anything about Monkey D. Ace. It's just that something seems a little strange about him."

"So you've noticed something," Marshall commented as he scratched at his chin.

"Anything at all would be fine," Vivi added not wanting Nami to have done everything by herself. Marshall was an intimidating person to talk to; it would make things easier on both of them if they worked together.

"Let's just say that Ace has lots of interesting scars."

He smirked at the two of them as they shared a puzzled look and began to walk off. Nami was the first to snap out of the confusion as she turned to face Marshall's retreating back.

"What! That's it?" she demanded with all the usual confidence back in her voice.

Marshall just raised his hand as if he were casually saying goodbye and carried on walking.

--

Ace had seen Nami and Vivi approach Marshall. He could think of no reason why they would need to do so. Neither of them had given any indication over the week that they were friends or even associates of his.

It seemed to Ace that after his first week at school here, he was already heading for trouble.

_I didn't intend for Kaya to come into this story much but after finishing watching Summer Snow I got an idea and her role got expanded. It also means Chopper will be coming into this fic within the next few chapters and it's going to give Shanks more to do too (you didn't think I'd have him Luffy and Ace's uncle without putting in an appearance did you?). _

_That's about all I have to say today (unusual I know) except reviews are really, really appreciated._

_I will write the next chapter...but will I really write the next chapter?_


	6. Hospitals

_Thanks to yo wuz up for betaing._

Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo

Hospitals

Ace had made arrangements to pick Zoro up from his Saturday training session. Even though Zoro had insisted he could make it on his own Ace had thought it would be best if they picked him up. The fact that they needed to do some shopping and the store they had gone to with Sanji was cheap, and had good quality stock that provided him with an alibi to give Zoro so the green haired teen could save face in front of Sanji.

They had done the shopping and were now well stocked with junk food and a few items that were healthier and were now outside the training hall. Ace could remember the confused expression on Zoro's face as Luffy had led him out the last time they had been there and tried his best to keep his brother on a lead. With all the bags of shopping he was carrying it turned out to be an impossible task and within a minute Luffy had broke free from his grasp and ran into the training hall.

He followed Luffy inside, hoping that he would be able to minimize any damage his brother might cause. He was lucky to catch up to Luffy before he could burst into the training room where Zoro was bowing to an opponent before a match. Ace was certain the last thing Zoro wanted was for Luffy to leap in front of him before he sparred.

Without stopping to think if there was anything breakable in the shopping bags Ace dropped them and grabbed hold of Luffy. He managed to wrap one arm round his brother's waist and put another over his mouth to stop Luffy calling out and distracting Zoro.

With no shopping bags in his hands Ace managed to keep Luffy under check whilst Zoro made quick work of his opponent. Ace was impressed, he'd heard Zoro was good but he hadn't expected him to be that good. He had thought it strange that Tashigi had praised Zoro's skills so highly when the two of them didn't get along very well. But it was clear to him now why she talked so highly of his kendo skills.

With the match finished Zoro came over to greet them. It would have been hard for Zoro not to see them considering Ace still had Luffy restrained and said boy was flailing his arms. When Zoro got a little closer Ace let go so Luffy could rush over to his friend.

"Zoro you were brilliant. I had no idea you were that good. You dropped him in a second. It was amazing," Luffy exclaimed the words seeming to tumble out of his mouth almost tripping over each other.

"Ah thanks," Zoro replied as he ran his hand through his hair.

Ace thought Zoro seemed pleased. And he couldn't be positive but there might have been a faint tinge of pink on his cheeks.

--

Zoro was happier than he would have imagined receiving Luffy's praise. It wasn't that he craved the praise. It meant next to nothing to him to have his parents congratulate him after a tournament match.

He had never fought to get praise or congratulations from anyone. His reasons to fight were his own and what others thought meant nothing to him. But praise from Luffy had actually brought a slight smile to his face, more than anyone else had ever managed before.

There was still ten minutes left of training but Zoro knew he wouldn't get to spar again. He figured it was best if he got changed now so he could get Luffy out of there sooner. He knew it would be better if he could get Luffy out of there as soon as possible before he started entertaining notions of being a swordsman and waving bokens around wildly.

Once he was ready; he left with the brothers for what he was sure would be an afternoon and evening of insanity.

--

Usopp made sure the smile was on his face as he stood outside the door to Kaya's private hospital room. She had been in there for so long now that she had been moved into one of the few private rooms on the children's ward some time ago.

His hand closed around the handle of Kaya's door but before he could open it a voice called out to him. He recognised it immediately as belonging to Chopper and turned to see the younger boy jog up the corridor towards him clutching a small white teddy bear with a red ribbon round its neck.

Chopper's grandmother was one of the top doctors at the hospital despite her lack of bedside manners. Usopp was impressed by how she kept up with the demanding hours despite her old age, though he would never tell her that for fear of what she would do to him.

Chopper's ambition was to follow in her footsteps. Usopp was sure he could do it and probably better than his grandmother could due to his sweeter disposition. Until he could start to study medicine Chopper helped out the only way he could, by volunteering at the children's ward. The younger boy spent hours at the weekend playing games or reading stories to the very young children, with the elder ones he would play video games or just chat with them, giving them an idea what life outside the hospital was like.

"Hey Chopper." Usopp greeted as the boy drew up beside him, his smile growing as he talked to him.

Even if Chopper was several years younger than him Usopp really enjoyed his company. It was sometimes difficult to tell Chopper was younger than him, Usopp was sure he'd had some conversations with Chopper that were more intelligent than some of the ones he'd had with Zoro.

"Hey, it's good to see you again. I was sorry I missed you last weekend," Chopper replied.

"You just wanted to hear another story."

"I like them," Chopper protested.

"And you like re-telling them," Usopp said with a laugh though not reprimanding his friend.

"Can you blame me?" the doctor to be replied as he ran his hands through his short, thick, brown hair shuffling his feet a little in embarrassment. "Some of the children here already know every book on this ward inside and out."

"I know, it's a shame," Usopp agreed. "You know I'm sure if I went through some of my old things I might find some books for the ward."

"You'd do that?" Chopper asked as his eyes brightened.

"Of course I would."

"That'd be great! Well I best get going they'll be looking for me."

"Huh who will? I thought you went around here as you pleased."

"I need to get this bear to the procedure room right away," Chopper explained as he held the little bear up.

"What's the deal with the bear?"

"It belongs to Naomi. She left it in the day room when she was taken to have a blood test done a few minutes ago. She gets scared without it so I said I'd get it for her."

"You best get going then."

"I'll drop in later if I've got a bit of time to spare."

As Chopper hurried off to the procedures room, waving his hand behind his back as he jogged away Usopp entered Kaya's room. Her face lit up as it always did when he came to visit.

"How've you been Usopp?" she asked.

"I'm fine, how're you?"

"There's been a slight improvement with my health but not that much of one. Have you got any new stories for me?"

"Of course I have," Usopp replied as he thrust out his chest in a manly pose. "It was a couple of days ago. The bully at school was picking on one of the younger kids. The poor boy was terrified, backed into a corner and cowering under the looming bully. So I snuck up behind the bully and with all the stealth I could muster managed to undo his belt then snuck away again.

"His trousers fell down and everyone was laughing and pointing at him. Even the boy he was bullying lost his fear of him. He stood up tall and laughed along with everyone else. The bully was so embarrassed he tried to run away but with his trousers round his ankles he tripped and fell flat on his face. Eventually he managed to pick himself up and pull up his trousers and make his get away.

"Ever since then he hasn't picked on another kid at school."

Kaya was giggling behind her hand, acting as if the story were true when she knew it wasn't.

With his story told the two of them chatted about anything that came to mind or sat in comfortable silence. Chopper didn't join them and Usopp could only assume that he was busy running around the ward after teddy bears, telling stories and playing games. It was a shame, but because Kaya had him visiting Chopper had to give most of his attention to those that didn't have a visitor. It was only fair but Usopp enjoyed having Chopper around when he told his stories for the exact same reason he thought he was going to enjoy having Luffy around.

He could only hope that Chopper would be able to spare some time if Luffy came to visit. The two of them together would add a lot of credit to his stories. Usopp was sure of it.

That reminded him that he hadn't actually brought up Luffy's visit with Kaya yet.

"You remember I mentioned my new friend Luffy when I came to visit the other day?" Usopp questioned.

"Yes, he sounds like a lot of fun."

"You think so? Well then how'd you like to meet him? He said he'd love to meet you the other day."

"Really?" Kaya questioned excitement evident in her voice. "I'd love to meet him."

"You'll probably get to meet his older brother Ace too. I doubt he'd let Luffy lose on a hospital without supervision."

"From everything you've told me about him I doubt he would too."

"That's great. I'm going to their apartment tonight so I'll let them both know. They'll probably come round with me next weekend."

"I'm looking forward to it already, whenever they come," Kaya replied with a smile brighter than Usopp had seen in a while.

The bell sounded throughout the ward to let everyone know that visiting time was over.

"Well I'll see you again tomorrow," Usopp said with a smile as he gathered his things together.

They waved when Usopp was at the door. As soon as he was through it and away from the window he leant back against the wall feeling exhausted. It really was difficult trying to pretend that nothing was wrong all the time.

--

The afternoon had been great fun for Luffy. When they got back to the apartment Ace had made a mountain of snacks whilst he set up the console for One Piece in the living room. He had spent a lot of time the other night levelling up the CG Zoro and it had paid off. But after seeing the real Zoro spar he knew his CG version had a long way to go.

Still it seemed better with Zoro controlling it than it had last night when he had been controlling it. He had taken the captain and Ace had taken one of the stronger crewmates. The three of them had played for hours and amassed a heap of treasure. They hadn't sailed to the island with One Piece but Luffy still couldn't shake the feeling that he was really close.

They had finished playing when Nami and Usopp had come round since the game only allowed for three players at any one time. Even with Ace in the kitchen making dinner that meant one person would be left out and Luffy didn't think that was fair.

Luffy could smell the steaks and chips frying and the smells made him hungrier. Luffy loved it when Ace made western style food. His brother was more than capable of cooking numerous Japanese dishes but Luffy had always thought his culinary skills lay with western foods. Before he had met Sanji Luffy had never met anyone who could fry a steak like Ace could. Sanji had never made him a steak but he cooked everything else perfectly so Luffy couldn't see why he wouldn't be able to make the perfect steak.

With everything cooked Luffy squished onto the couch with Zoro, Nami and Usopp whilst Ace took the only chair in the living room. He was happy to be squashed between Zoro and Usopp whilst cramming steak and chips into his mouth and watching Pirates of the Caribbean.

He was happier when Usopp told him that Kaya would be delighted to meet him.

"Really?" Luffy questioned as the credits rolled on the film.

"Really. You could come along next weekend if you wanted to."

"Could I Ace?"

"There's nothing going on next weekend that I know of but I'm not so sure I should let you lose on a hospital without supervision."

"Don't worry about that," Usopp said. "I already told Kaya you'd probably be coming along to keep him under control. She'd love to meet you too Ace."

"I don't know…" Ace hesitated. "It's not that I don't want to meet Kaya it's just…"

Luffy knew immediately what was wrong. Ace hated hospitals now. He had spent so long in one with so many bad injuries that he couldn't stand them. Luffy knew Ace wasn't scared, he knew it took much more than a hospital to scare his brother.

Ace hated hospitals because for months all he could do was lie in a hospital bed and think about the things he had done his only reprieve being when he came to visit with Uncle Shanks and Benn. Something like that was bound to make you hate a place.

"I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise," Luffy pleaded. "You won't have to come keep an eye on me."

"No, it's alright I'll come. I'd like to meet Kaya."

"Are you sure Ace?" Zoro questioned. "You seem a bit hesitant; I could always go instead if you like."

"I'll be fine," Ace insisted.

"I might come along anyway; it's been a while since I saw Kaya. That is if it's ok with you Usopp?"

"Of course it's okay. The more the merrier," the long-nose replied with a smile.

"Why don't you come too Nami, then you can stay over here after," Luffy suggested.

"Can't promise anything yet but I'll have a word with Bellemere and see if she okays it," Nami replied.

--

Nami had spent most of her time watching Ace closely trying to catch a glimpse of the 'interesting scars' he was supposed to have. With a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of jeans on though there was nothing to see. The t-shirt was so long that even if Ace stretched it didn't ride up enough to expose any flesh that may or may not have been scarred.

All she could do was speculate as to what these scars might be like. He could have had major surgery or been in a car accident or maybe even a fire. The possibilities were numerous and without getting a look at the scars it'd be impossible to use Teachs' clue to figure out anything about Ace.

But from Ace's reaction to the idea of going to hospital she was sure the cause of the scars had to be something traumatic. If it made him hesitant to go to a hospital to keep an eye on Luffy it must have been caused by something severe that had required a long stay in hospital. At least that was what she assumed.

It seemed that talking to Teach hadn't helped anything. In fact it had only added another mystery to solve.

--

They had all stayed up a little longer after Nami and Usopp had left. After a little more time playing games and one more film they all had all gone to bed. Ace watched as Luffy and Zoro went off to bed and he couldn't help feeling the tiniest bit jealous. He knew it was a bad idea for him to share a bed with Sanji too often but that didn't stop him wanting to.

"Night you two," he called before they closed the door.

"Night," Luffy replied before shutting the door.

"Luffy, is Ace ok?" Zoro asked from his seat on the bed.

Luffy turned to him, his back against the door with a confused look on his face. He had no idea what Zoro was talking about. He couldn't think why Zoro would think Ace wasn't okay.

"I mean about the hospital next week. He seemed a little apprehensive about it," Zoro clarified.

"Ace doesn't really like hospitals all that much," Luffy replied trying not to give too much away whilst he came up with a convincing excuse for why.

"I gathered that much. What I want to know is if he'll be okay in the hospital or is he going to freak out?"

"I think he'll be okay. We never really talk about why he doesn't like them because we never really have to go since neither of us gets sick. I think he doesn't like them because he can remember being in the hospital after our parents were in a car accident, he can remember seeing them. I don't really remember it cos I was too young so hospitals don't bother me."

"Well at least if a lot of us go someone could take him outside whilst I keep an eye on you. Maybe we should ask if Sanji and Vivi want to come along too."

"That's a great idea. I'm sure Kaya would love to see lots of people. Hey! What d'ya mean keep an eye on me?" Luffy protested.

"I mean you're trouble."

Luffy giggled as he launched himself at Zoro, knocking the green haired teen flat to the bed.

"See? Trouble," Zoro stated as he ruffled Luffy's hair. "We should get to bed if we're going to go to Ikebukuro tomorrow."

"Guess so."

They both got changed. Zoro was already lying in the bed when Luffy launched on it, narrowly avoiding landing on top of the green haired teen.

"Do you ever think about what you do?" Zoro asked.

"But I always get into bed like this, it's more fun. G'night Zoro," Luffy said as he flipped off the light switch near the bed.

"Night," Zoro replied as he turned his back on Luffy curious as to whether he was going to end up with the younger teen snuggled against him.

_I know it's shocking how quickly I got this chapter done. But it's summer and the recession means there are no jobs so I've got a lot of free time. Unless I find a job this update rate is likely to continue till mid September. Enjoy it while you can._

_All that's left is to ask nicely for reviews. So please review._

_I will write the next chapter...but will I really write the next chapter?_


	7. Not always an Adventure

_Thanks to yo wuz up for betaing this chapter so quickly. And I'm sorry it took so long, a 15,000 word dissertation tends to really slow down my already tortoise pace fic writing abilities. _

Shizunkana Hibi no Kaidan wo

Not always an Adventure

Zoro should have known Luffy would wake him up early for their trip to Ikebukuro. He supposed some might consider ten in the morning late but for him on the weekend it was very early. It made him wonder why he even wanted to stay over again in the first place. He knew his wake up call was going to be an over excited Luffy bouncing above him but he couldn't deny that he had wanted to stay over again.

As he was beginning to gain enough consciousness to form the words to tell Luffy to stop the younger teen lost his footing. Collapsing hard onto Zoro's stomach, he couldn't help crying out as Luffy's weight hit him hard. Zoro just caught site of Ace poking his head through Luffy's door, no doubt drawn by his cry, as he thumped the over-energetic teen on the head. Luffy just continued to smile at Zoro.

"Come on, get up and I'll make breakfast," Ace called.

Zoro braced himself in case any of Luffy's limbs should catch him in his scramble to get up, nothing made the boy move faster or more out of control than the prospect of food. He considered himself lucky when he didn't get hit as Luffy rushed to get changed. Zoro stretched and went about getting changed himself, albeit at a slower pace than Luffy; resulting in Luffy nagging until Zoro was ready.

When they were both changed they headed out to the kitchen to find Ace frying a lot of sausage and bacon with a large pile of sandwiches already made. He had made up a fresh batch of sandwiches and put them next to the rest with some tomato and barbecue sauce. As Luffy and Zoro dug in he went about frying up enough to make one more round. With the cooking taken care of he helped Luffy and Zoro devour them.

"Come on Ace, you've got to hurry up and get ready," Luffy said as he looked over Ace's pyjamas.

"I'm not coming with you, other things to do," Ace replied as he finished his coffee.

"But you have to come, it's going to be loads of fun," Luffy protested.

"I'm sure you'll manage to have fun without me."

"Are you sure you won't come? It really is gonna be fun."

"I know it is but homework and stuff. Smoker'll kill me if I don't manage to get it done. He already hates me for falling asleep all the time."

"But..."

"Luffy let Ace do what he wants," Zoro cut in. "We'll have a good time on our own."

Luffy clearly wasn't happy but he also seemed to accept that Ace was staying. So with breakfast over and no more complaints from Luffy the two of them left the flat. Zoro suspected Ace was looking forward to see peace and quiet. Clearly the elder brother loved the younger one but even he had to need a break some time and Zoro couldn't help wondering when he'd be fortunate enough to at last receive one.

–

The train ride had been uneventful and Zoro was eternally thankful for that but he had noticed Luffy's leg twitching which he was sure was going to spell trouble for him in the long run. As the train doors opened at Ikebukuro station Zoro realised how right his munch was as Luffy bolted out of them. Luffy was obviously ready for an adventure. All Zoro could do was follow after him and hope Luffy didn't have too much mischief in mind.

He had no idea where Luffy had led him but they were soon surrounded by some bright coloured statues that looked like a giant's toy building blocks to Zoro. The black haired teenager was only stopped for a moment as he looked around not even giving Zoro a chance to ask what he was doing. When the brief moment was up Luffy was off like a bolt again giving him no choice but give chase again. Luffy came to a stop again in front of a small owl statue and wrapped his arms round it.

"What are you doing?" Zoro questioned as he caught up to Luffy. "Don't tell me you wanted to come all the way to Ikebukuro to hug an owl statue."

"Why would I want to hug it?" Luffy questioned. "We're going to steal it."

"Why the hell would we steal it?"

"But that's what they do on the TV show," Luffy replied as he let his arms slip from the statue so he could turn to face Zoro. "Then they get mixed up with the yakuza and have some fun fights and it'd be like an adventure. I thought it'd be fun."

Zoro realised what Luffy was talking about and could have kicked himself for not realising it sooner. Luffy had always struck Zoro as being impressionable. He should have realised he would be inspired by TV shows; after all he had a pirate obsession because of his game. Or maybe he had the pirate obsession first and got the game because of it. The semantics didn't really matter, Luffy was impressionable and that was all that counted at the moment.

"You do remember that it didn't end so well for the guy who tried to steal the owl right?"

"I guess it didn't. Maybe we should have gone to Akihabara, no one died cos of their adventures there. Well except that website lady but I don't think she counts since she killed herself."

"Why do we have to have adventures all the time?"

"I just want us to have fun together and Uncle Shanks always says his adventures with Uncle Benn are the most fun he ever has."

"Wait the uncle that pays for your flat is called Shanks, as in the crazy travel writer Shanks by any chance?"

"You've heard of Uncle Shanks?"

"Who hasn't heard of him? It certainly explains a lot."

"Explains what?"

"Why you're crazy."

"I'm not crazy and Uncle Shanks isn't either."

"Anybody that goes swimming with sharks hung over are crazy and you do seem to have picked it up from him. It isn't really a bad thing; you could just do with calming down a bit sometimes."

"So you don't like having adventures with me? You don't like hanging out?"

"If I didn't have fun I wouldn't keep hanging out with you. But we have fun just playing games and watching films at your flat right?" Zoro waited whilst Luffy seemed to consider what he'd said, after a moment Luffy nodded and he continued. "So why can't we just have fun doing something normal like that? Not looking for trouble can be fun too."

"Ok let's go play some games," Luffy said with a grin as they headed off for the nearest game centre.

–

Chopper didn't really have the time to see Kaya and Usopp but by bending the rules a little he could make the time. Doctors and volunteers weren't meant to eat around patients and visitors, that was what the cafeteria and doctors lounge were for. He only had sandwiches and knew Kaya and Usopp would keep his secret. It felt like such a long time since he had seen the two of them together that he decided he could bend the rule, just once.

With his sandwiches concealed in his hoodie he knocked on the door and waited for Kaya's response. When he entered he found himself pleasantly surprised at the look of excitement on Kaya's face. He couldn't remember when he'd last seen her look so happy.

"Usopp bring you some good news?" Chopper asked as he shut the door behind him.

"He's going to bring his new friends to visit me next weekend," Kaya explained.

"That's great," Chopper replied as his smile grew to match Kaya's. "You don't mind if I eat do you? It's the only way I can make time," he hastily added as he flashed his hidden tupperware tub.

"Go ahead."

"So who are these friends of yours Usopp?"

"Luffy and Ace, they're brothers who transferred to my school recently. They've only been here about a week but already they've been causing chaos," Usopp started to explain.

"From what you told me it's only Luffy that intentionally causes chaos," Kaya interjected.

"That's true, Luffy's mad but Ace is pretty calm. He does have narcolepsy though which I guess could cause problems but I've not seen him fall asleep yet."

"How's Luffy mad?" Chopper asked as he tucked into his chicken salad sandwiches.

"It's hard to put craziness like his into words. But Zoro told me about the trip he made to the library with him. It ended with Luffy climbing shelves so he could try and find the books."

"He sounds really fun," Chopper said as his eyes lit up. "I might have to eat lunch with you again next weekend so I can meet them, if it's ok."

"Of course it's ok. I'll keep it secret from the rest of the staff," Kaya promised.

"You'll have to eat your lunch in 10 seconds otherwise Luffy will try to steal it," Usopp warned.

"What?" Chopper exclaimed.

"Luffy and Ace both have ridiculously huge appetites. Ace is fine, he can control himself but Luffy will steal food off anyone's plate once he's finished his own food."

"Guess I'll have to eat quickly," Chopper concluded as he stuffed what remained of his sandwich in his mouth to practice.

"You look like a hamster," Kaya said with a giggle.

–

Ace had managed to have a productive morning with Luffy out of his way. He had cleaned the kitchen and bathroom and managed to do both without cracking his skull open after falling asleep. Now he intended to kick back and relax whilst he still could. It wasn't often that he got a break from Luffy and he intended to take full advantage of it.

He had a cup of coffee, plate of cookies and a book. He settled onto the couch with his mug in one hand and book in the other he started reading where he left off. He had barely finished a page when there was a knock at the door. If it didn't look like something important Ace was torn between ignoring them till they went away or opening the door just to hit them with his book.

He was surprised when he looked through the peep hole to Sanji. He reached out to open the door but stopped when he realised he wasn't wearing a t-shirt. Cursing under his breath as he ran to his bedroom Ace decided he would have to be more careful about his state of dress around the flat even when he was alone. He'd managed to prevent a disaster this time but next time he might not be so lucky.

With a plain black, long sleeved t-shirt thrown on Ace hurried back to the door stopping off in the bathroom to flush the chain. He took a second to calm his breathing before opening the door.

"Hey Sanji. Sorry about the wait, I was just in the bathroom."

"No problem. Luffy and Zoro in Ikebukuro?"

"Yeah, they left this morning. You can come in and wait for them to get back if you like."

"I thought I might cook for you guys tonight since I'm off."

"You better go through the cupboards, see what you can make with our scraps."

"Do you two ever have anything but scraps?" Sanji asked as he entered the flat.

"For all of five minutes, after we do some shopping."

As Sanji went through all the cupboards Ace made him a cup of coffee. The two of them moving round the kitchen without getting in each other's way easily.

"Any hope for dinner?" Ace asked as he handed Sanji the coffee.

"Yeah, should be able to make some okonomiyaki. The kitchen's looking good, I'm surprised it's so clean with Luffy raiding it."

"That's because I've spent the morning cleaning this place. Want to watch something while we wait for them to get back or something else?"

"Watching something is fine by me."

Ace decided let Sanji pick out the DVD, he owned all of them and he'd seen all of them so he didn't really care what they watched. They settled onto the couch together with their coffees and the cookies. Having missed lunch due to cleaning there was a large amount of cookies on the plate and Ace was quick to get through most of them as Survive Style 5+ started.

Ace didn't even make it half way through the film when he fell asleep. Falling sideways he collapsed into Sanji's lap and curled himself up.

–

They had been to the game centre and to a few shops and Luffy found he had to agree with what Zoro had said earlier. The two of them had had fun all day without the slightest hint of an adventure. Zoro had been good at all the games they'd played earlier. Even though he had won the most despite it had only been by two games, it really had been a close call between them.

At the shops Luffy had bought a new red vest with black skull and cross bones on the front and some manga. Zoro hadn't bought a single thing; he had just followed Luffy into one shop after another every time Luffy saw something he thought he might like.

With all the shopping done they decided to go to a café for a drink and more importantly as far as Luffy was concerned for a snack. He wanted to order the entire menu but Zoro was quick to point out that he didn't have enough money for the entire menu. He was left having to carefully pick what he really wanted. He didn't pick anything Zoro was planning to order since he'd get to taste some but he had only picked three things which wasn't much help to him. With only ten things ordered he could have been happier but it was better than nothing.

"We should probably call it a day after this," Zoro said as they started in on the food that had arrived.

"Guess so. We can always just play some more games back at the flat."

"When I said call it a day I meant I should go home, y'know to my own home."

"You're not staying again tonight?"

"I don't have my uniform and we've got school tomorrow."

"You could come back for a bit couldn't you? You could have dinner and watch a film at least, maybe two."

"Ok, I'll stay for dinner and maybe a film."

"You could at least stay for one film."

"I said maybe."

Luffy wished Zoro would agree to stay for an entire film but the green haired teen refused to budge. Although Luffy was hopeful that if they started a film whilst they were eating Zoro would end up staying to see the end, maybe even staying for a second. It was better than him just going home.

–

The film had been finished for a while but Ace was still asleep. Sanji wasn't sure what the best course of action was with a sleeping narcoleptic so he hadn't dared move. It was true that he wanted to do something other than sit with Ace's head in his lap but he thought it would be better to let Ace sleep, after all he hated it when someone disturbed his slumber.

It wasn't all bad, he wasn't uncomfortable and thankfully Ace wasn't drooling. He was, however, very bored. Since he had decided not to move he couldn't put a new DVD on, he couldn't even reach the book that sat discarded on the coffee table. The only thing he could do was put the special features on.

He managed to make it though the deleted scenes and was watching outtakes trying not to laugh too much so Ace wouldn't be disturbed, until the front door burst open. As Ace bolted upright he turned to see Luffy bound through the door with Zoro in tow.

"Sorry," Ace said as Sanji turned back to him.

"What did you do?" Luffy asked as he plonked down next to Ace.

"I fell asleep on him at some point whilst we were watching a film."

"Are you stupid Sanji?" Luffy asked. "If Ace falls asleep all you have to do is push him aside. If he wakes up he wakes up. He shouldn't really be sleeping during the day anyway, no one should."

"Ace is narcoleptic remember?" Zoro stated. "What the hell are you doing here anyway love cook?"

"Thought I might surprise you all and make dinner," Sanji started. "Well not you. I couldn't give a damn about you; you could starve wandering the streets whilst you were lost for all I care but since you're here I'll have to feed you too."

"You're making dinner?" Luffy questioned. Sanji nodded. "What are we having? Something with lots of meat."

"Okonomiyaki with extra meat."

"Can we have it now?"

"As soon as I make it. Are you ever going to learn patience? Just amuse yourself while I cook."

Whilst Sanji was cooking Luffy recounted Ace with everything he and Zoro had done in Ikebukuro. Sanji could hear everything from the kitchen. He was as surprised as Zoro to find that Luffy and Ace's uncle was famous. Like Zoro he wasn't surprised that it was the slightly eccentric travel writer who was the relation, though it did make him wonder who Ace took after.

With the okonomiyaki cooked they all settled to watch TV and eat. Throughout the meal Luffy kept trying to persuade him and Zoro to stay over for the night. Thankfully they had Ace on their side insisting that it wasn't going to happen and that Luffy had to accept it wasn't practical.

"Ok, if you're not going to spend the night you have to come visit Kaya with us next weekend," Luffy insisted.

"Which day?" Sanji asked.

"Saturday," Ace informed.

"I'm meant to be working the evening so I'll be free during the day. I've covered a lot of shifts for other people so I should be able to get someone to cover for me. I could spend the whole day with you guys then."

"If you do that will you stay round?" Luffy asked. Sanji glanced at Ace to see the elder teen looking slightly apprehensive. He wasn't sure what to make of that look but it didn't stop him.

"If someone covers me I'll stay round since I'm not working till the evening Sunday. That's only _if_ though so don't go getting excited yet."

"It's getting late, we best get going," Zoro announced before Luffy could respond.

"Just one more film?" Luffy pleaded.

"Not a chance."

He and Zoro left together. As soon as the door shut behind them Zoro began walking ahead as if he knew where he was going, which Sanji was sure he didn't. Silence echoed round them. It felt like it was building up to something, but he couldn't guess what since the only person he was with was Zoro. He didn't stop walking even when they were outside, leaving Sanji behind so he barely caught the words that the green haired teen's lips.

"I've got a favour to ask," Zoro started. "It's pretty important."

Sanji had to stop and process those words. He found it hard to believe Zoro had just asked for a favour. But no matter what way his brain processed those words it came up the same. Zoro had definitely asked him for a favour. Part of him wanted to mock the swordsman. But he couldn't. Zoro's tone of voice and the fact he was asking _him_ of all people for a favour meant it was serious.

Sanji snapped out of his thoughts to realise Zoro had finally stopped walking. He hurried to catch up to him.

"What do you need me to do?" Sanji asked, showing as much seriousness as Zoro had.

"It's about Ace and going to the hospital."

Zoro now definitely had his full attention.

"When this whole trip to the hospital came up the other day, Ace was, well...he was a little off. He almost seemed scared. It was so serious Luffy was promising he would behave so Ace didn't have to go."

"Christ, it's that serious?"

Zoro nodded. "I asked Luffy about it and he told me he thought Ace didn't like hospitals cos he could remember being in them after their parents were in a car crash. Luffy was too young to really remember it so Ace would probably have been just old enough to remember but just young enough for it to fuck him up a bit.

"But he's still going to come. So I just wanted to ask you to keep an eye on him. You two seem pretty close, at least closer than Ace is to anyone else. I know it's me asking you to do this but it's for Ace so would you just do it?"

"Yeah, you didn't have to ask. But thanks for the heads up on the hospital thing, might come in handy to know."

"Let's get going dartboard brow," Zoro said as he started walking off.

"Marimo you're going the wrong way."

–

_Anyone else been devastated by One Piece recently or is it just me? Not really sure there's anything else I have to say about that :(. Reviews would cheer me up about that and my whole dissertation nightmare._

_I will write the next chapter...but will I really write the next chapter?_


	8. The Day Before

_Thanks to yo wuz up for betaing. There'll be a mini essay about why it's taken awhile to get this done (and a few other things) at the end._

Shizunkana Hibi wo Kaidan wo

The Day Before

Luffy had been making plans for the big hospital visit all week. He had managed to get everyone to agree to spend the night before at the flat and was planning a camp out in the living room. Even Sanji had managed to get the time off to be there, though he had made it clear to everyone he was going to suffer for the favours he now owed.

He felt like he had been waiting months for this but it was finally Friday. All he had to do was get through school and then everyone would be coming round; they could play games, watch dvds, eat Sanji's delicious food. It was going to be great.

"I finally figured out the best way for the furniture to go so we can all camp out in the living room," Luffy announced. "So don't forget sleeping bags."

"Wait you expect me and Vivi to sleep next to you guys in sleeping bags?" Nami questioned.

"Of course, you're going to sleep between Usopp and Vivi."

"There's no way, I'm sleeping next to Usopp."

"But you don't mind sleeping next to Vivi?"

"Why would I mind sleeping next to Vivi, we're both girls. You guys are uncouth boys."

"You could sleep next to me or Zoro or Sanji instead," Luffy suggested.

"What part of uncouth didn't you understand?"

Luffy had to think for a moment. His carefully thought out camping plan was ruined if he couldn't think of where Nami and Vivi would sleep. It struck him that there was one place, it wouldn't be as fun since they wouldn't all be sleeping together anymore but it would be better than not having them stay over.

"You and Vivi can have my room. There's plenty of room for two in the bed isn't there Zoro?"

Luffy turned to see the green haired teen asleep on his desk; he hadn't heard a word Luffy had just said.

"Well, there is plenty of room. So you'll be comfy and have room to play games and you won't be lonely if you share with Vivi."

"That's better, as long as some clean sheets go on the bed," Nami agreed.

"I'm guessing you don't have much food in as usual," Sanji said.

"Hmm, I don't think so. We had some meat for breakfast but I think that was the last of it," Luffy replied.

"If you and Ace ate it, it was probably the last of it. I'm going to need to do some shopping if I'm going to make three meals."

"I've been pretty patient with all of you at the back. I don't see what is more important than this lesson, that you haven't been able to stop discussing it," Nico-sensei cut in.

"We're having a sleep over tonight and going to visit Usopp's friend Kaya in the hospital tomorrow. So we were just making plans for that."

"Well if you don't stop you'll find yourself in detention. I'm sure that'll spoil what plans you've already made."

Luffy closed his mouth so tight his lips almost disappeared. She smiled down at Luffy. It seemed the message had been received and understood, Luffy was going to keep his mouth shut.

–

Ace knew how excited Luffy was about their weekend plans. He had spent the past week watching his brother re-arrange the furniture to find the combination that gave the most space. Despite the fact that it had pretty much been a useless endeavour as the different combinations tended to give the same amount of free space Luffy had happily tried every one he could think of.

Even though he had enjoyed seeing his brother so excited he couldn't share the feeling. He was looking forward to meeting Kaya; from what everyone had said about her she seemed like a kind, not to mention very brave girl and she clearly meant the world to Usopp. He really did want to meet her. He just wished it could be somewhere other than a hospital.

He noticed Tashigi staring at him as if she was trying to figure out if something was wrong with him. Ace knew he had probably been spacing out over hospitals again. He had been doing it a lot at home too; Luffy had been noticing it over the past week.

"Is something wrong Ace?" she whispered, trying to avoid Smoker-sensei's eye.

"Nothing much, it's just we're going to visit someone in the hospital tomorrow and I'm worried that Luffy might run riot through it even though there's gonna be a few of us there to restrain him."

"I can see why you're worried but I'm sure between you, Zoro and Sanji you'll keep him in check."

Ace had no choice but to agree with her. He couldn't admit to her that for most of the time it would be only Zoro and Sanji on restraining duties due to his fear of hospitals. Even though Luffy had promised to behave that was still a potential disaster for a hospital.

He had to stop worrying about it. Zoro was an incredible influence on Luffy. If he had managed to get Luffy into his tie with minimal fuss Ace was sure he could get him to tone his behaviour down whilst they were in the hospital. He just had to hope that Luffy would listen.

"Stop looking so worried," Tashigi insisted. "I'll admit Luffy is a handful but he's a good kid, I'm sure he'll behave in a hospital."

Smoker cleared his throat, drawing their attention.

"I don't know what you two think it so important it can't wait till the end of class but we _are _still in class."

"Sorry," they mumbled in unison.

"I expected as much from you Ace but Tashigi I'm disappointed in you."

She didn't respond all she did was blush, and turn her attention to the text book in front of her.

–

Luffy was like a barely contained bundle of energy at lunch. After being forced to keep quiet throughout classes Zoro thought it was like watching a cat ready to pounce. He was poised ready to spring into a hyperactive state as soon as they were all at the flat. Some of the excitement was escaping now in the enthused way he talked about what they were going to do but its full force wouldn't be seen till later.

Zoro really wasn't looking forward to keeping Luffy in check at the hospital but he knew it was going to fall to him to get Luffy to behave. He hoped he might be able to get some help from Ace and Sanji at some point throughout the visit but he wasn't holding out on that hope.

Considering how Ace had reacted to the idea of visiting the hospital he wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get any help at all. He knew Sanji was going to devote his attention to Ace. It hadn't failed to escape his attention that Sanji had some sort of preoccupation with the older brother. He didn't understand it but he was glad. It meant he could count on Sanji to take care of Ace.

"I can't wait for tomorrow," Luffy enthused for what might have been the twentieth time that day, Zoro had lost count.

"Just make sure you behave Luffy..._please_," Usopp virtually begged. "If you don't behave Dr. Kureha will probably hospitalise you."

"Really? Does she like treating patients so much that she puts people in hospital?" Luffy asked. "It might be fun to see a doctor put people in hospital so she has more work to do."

"It won't be fun! Luffy Dr. Kureha is practically a witch."

"Cool! So Kureha is a witch doctor, does she do voodoo too?"

"No she's not, she's practices regular medicine and she's very good at her job. It's just that her personality is a little..." Usopp paused as he tried to find the right word. "Hostile, at times."

Zoro wished Usopp would just shut up about Dr. Kureha. At the rate he was going he would end up encouraging Luffy to misbehave just to see this witch doctor Kureha.

As Usopp talked Zoro could hear his job getting harder. But at least he didn't have Sanji's responsibility. Looking at Ace he thought he was probably going to have an easier time of it than Sanji. Dealing with Luffy had to be easier than trying to help Ace with his emotional turmoil. If time and the support of his family hadn't done much to help Ace with his problem with hospitals, he highly doubted Sanji would be able to do anything.

Looking at Sanji he could see the blond was watching Ace. It was clear he was taking this very seriously. Zoro hoped he was ready to face disappointment because he didn't think there was anything he could do for Ace.

–

Sanji had watched Ace closely during lunch, it was clear he was trying to hide his problems but it was plain to see that something was worrying him and it didn't take a genius to figure out what it was. Any time Ace was barely fending off Luffy's food theft attempts had to mean something was really wrong.

Tomorrow's hospital trip was obviously playing on Ace's mind.

It had been playing on his mind ever since Zoro had asked him for that favour. Just looking at Ace in the days leading up to the visit had made it clear things weren't going to go off without a hitch. He was going to have to do something to try and help Ace with his problems.

The only problem he had was that he didn't know what.

There was nothing he could say or do, which would take any of the pain away. It wasn't like he expected to suddenly make everything better but to not even be able to help in the slightest was going to be frustrating.

Sanji was sure Ace being closed off must have something to do with the death of his parents. It wasn't like there could have been something worse in the older teen's life than that. If only there was something he could do to help then maybe Ace would open up to everyone. It was too bad he realised that it was pretty much impossible for him to do anything to help.

"You ok?" Ace asked.

"Yeah I'm fine," Sanji replied.

"Are you sure? You've been staring at that pepper for nearly five minutes."

Sanji looked down to see that he did have a yellow pepper in his hands. He didn't know if he'd been holding it for nearly five minutes but it was fairly safe to assume he had been.

Whilst everyone else had gone to their respective homes to ditch their school stuff and get everything they needed he had gone food shopping with Ace. The plan being that the two of them could get everything without Luffy interfering. With the younger brother gone with Zoro, no doubt to harass the swordsman's family, it was the best chance they'd have to get the food without having Luffy try to put the entire content of the meat aisle into a trolley. Then Ace could take everything home whilst he went to get his stuff.

"Is everything really alright? It's not like you to space out while food shopping."

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just thinking that I might have screwed myself over to get the time off this weekend. I owe Carne big time now and that guy hates me."

"And looking at peppers makes you think about shift patterns?"

"I was meant to be stuffing peppers as one of the dishes I was responsible for tomorrow."

"So everything's ok?"

"Everything's fine."

Sanji couldn't believe it. Wasn't he supposed to be helping Ace? Yet here was Ace trying to help him. The one person who would probably be able to help him with his problem was practically asking how he could help but Sanji couldn't tell him what was really bothering him. He couldn't get the solution from the source of the problem.

Besides the source of the problem, probably wouldn't want to talk about it now. Tomorrow would no doubt be a different matter.

–

Luffy was excited about going to Zoro's house and meeting the swordsman's family. Zoro knew his family really well, except for uncle Shanks and uncle Benn and that was only because they hadn't been back to Japan yet. When they got back he couldn't wait for them to meet Zoro and all his friends. It only seemed fair that he got to meet Zoro's family since Zoro knew Ace.

Besides Zoro was cool so they were bound to be.

They were still walking to his house. Zoro had told him it would only take twenty minutes but they were still not there after forty minutes and having to double back a few times.

"When are we gonna get there?" Luffy asked.

"We're nearly there."

"You said the same thing ten minutes ago," Luffy pouted.

"What's the rush anyway? We'll get there soon and then I'll grab my stuff and we can go."

"But I wanna stick around and meet your family."

"Why?"

"Cos I want to. They're your family so they must be cool. Are they?"

"They're just my family, you know like anyone else's. We get along sometimes, we fight sometimes, just normal. They're not really cool."

"What do they do?"

"My dad is the master of the dojo and my sister trains there too."

"Really? The one we picked you up from?"

"Yes, let me guess you don't remember?"

"I didn't see anyone with green hair there except you."

"My dad has black hair and Kuina's is blue."

"How come yours is green then?"

"I get it from my mum but things just work out weird like that sometimes."

"What's she like?"

"She was nice, died a couple of years ago though."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Zoro shrugged. "It's ok now. We've all got used to it."

"I suppose that's good but it'd be better if she wasn't dead."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed. "We're here now."

Zoro lived in a small, wooden traditional house, one of the few that had survived the fire bombings from the Second World War. It was nestled between two blocks of apartments that towered over it, with the dojo just a little down the street.

"I'm home," Zoro called as he let them into the house.

"You get lost again?" Koshiro asked as he walked into the hall.

"I don't get lost!"

"We got lost," Luffy admitted.

"This is Luffy."

"Ah I remember you from the dojo that time."

"Really? I still don't remember you."

"It was hard to miss you. Would you like some tea?"

Luffy nodded as Zoro went to get his things. He followed Koshiro into the kitchen where Kuina was sat at the table drinking tea with a packet of rice crackers in front of her.

"What's Zoro's crazy friend doing here?" Kuina asked.

"I came with Zoro to get his things so I could meet you and your dad," Luffy explained as he grabbed some rice crackers.

"Why would you want to meet us?"

"You're Zoro's family. He knows my family, I thought it'd be fun to meet you."

"Fun? You're strange."

"People tell me that a lot."

"I'm not surprised."

"You do kendo too right?"

"Yeah."

"Are you as good as Zoro?"

"I'm still a kid and I'm a girl. How can I be as good as Zoro?"

"But I figured since Zoro's really good and your dad runs the dojo, so he must be good, then you've got to be awesome too, y'know cos you're related."

"Kuina is a very skilled swordswoman," Koshiro interjected as he put a cup of tea down in front of Luffy.

"So it is cos you're related."

"It's because she trains hard."

"Do you want to be a school champion like Zoro is?" Luffy asked Kuina.

"I want to beat Zoro one day," Kuina replied.

"Really? That's gonna be tough but if you train hard enough I bet you could. C'mon I'll help you train," he declared as he jumped out of his seat and tried to drag Kuina with him.

"What are you doing?" Zoro questioned.

"I'm gonna help Kuina train so she can beat you."

"You don't know the first thing about kendo. How are you gonna help her beat me?"

"Dunno, if we just train hard enough then she should be able to beat you."

"She trains hard enough as it is. If you help her you'll only make it harder for her."

"Ok, I won't help but when you guys have a match I want to watch. I beat it'll be an awesome fight."

"I promise, can we go before you cause any damage to my house."

Zoro dragged Luffy outside as the black haired teen frantically waved goodbye. From the corner of his eye Zoro could see his dad wave with his usual smile in place whilst Kuina looked perplexed at the spectacle that had just unfolded before her.

He had a feeling it might have been a bad idea for Luffy to meet his family. All things considered it could have been worse; at least his house was still intact.

–

They were all gathered back at the flat. It had taken a while for Zoro and Luffy to get back, no doubt because Zoro had got both of them lost. Even Sanji had managed to get to the apartment before they had and he had been shopping with Ace before going back to his own place. Sometimes Nami really wondered how Zoro managed.

As soon as they got back, Luffy had given Vivi the grand tour. It didn't matter that Vivi already knew where everything was, Luffy still insisted on showing her around. Now Luffy and Usopp were dancing around the living room to some song Luffy had just made up to celebrate everyone sleeping over for the first time. The song was stupid, loud and a bit annoying but it at least kept Luffy quiet about food whilst Sanji was cooking.

Nami had been looking forward to tonight for the past week. She had come up with a plan for trying to figure out what Marshall had meant by 'interesting scars'. Tonight was going to be her best opportunity; all she had to do was accidently catch Ace in his room. It was not guaranteed he would be getting changed and that she would see anything but a chance was the best she could hope for considering she had no other leads.

"Dinner will be ready soon," Sanji announced.

It brought a quick halt to Luffy and Usopp's singing and dancing. Dragging Usopp with him Luffy charged over to the kitchen.

"How soon is soon?" Luffy asked.

"As soon as I'm finished," Sanji replied, exasperation clear in his voice.

Ace walked over to his little brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know if you leave Sanji alone it'll be ready faster. So just sit quietly and wait," he instructed.

Luffy looked thoughtful for a moment then bounded back to the living room, still dragging Usopp behind him.

"Put Usopp down before you break him," Ace commanded. Luffy dropped his friend to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "I should have told him to be gentle."

"Thanks for getting him off my back."

"Not a problem, I know he's a handful. I'll be back in a minute to give you a hand with dishing up if you like, just gonna ditch my school crap in my room," Ace offered.

"I'd appreciate it or some help restraining Luffy."

Ace broke into a grin as he turned to head to his room. This was the chance Nami had been waiting for. She excused herself under the pretence of needing the toilet and followed after Ace. She was outside Ace's door, her hand closed around the handle.

"What are doing Nami-san?" Sanji asked.

"I was just about to go to the toilet," she replied.

"In that case you should try the next door along; I don't think Ace would appreciate you using his room as the bathroom."

Nami looked around herself in an attempt to feign innocence. "How silly of me," she replied as she fixed her gaze on the bathroom door. "I could have sworn this was the bathroom."

"Everyone makes mistakes Nami-san, I'd hurry if I was you though I'm not sure Luffy's patience will last much longer."

"Thank you Sanji-kun."

As Sanji turned back to the kitchen she headed to the bathroom. She didn't really need to go but now she'd been caught she would have to follow through on her lie. She wasn't sure if Sanji suspected something so she had to keep her cover up. He might act like a complete idiot around her or any other pretty girl sometimes but Sanji wasn't stupid.

Nami closed the bathroom door behind her and let out a sigh. She was tired of all her attempts at uncovering the truth coming to nothing.

–

The evening had been amusing as was usual whenever Sanji stayed over Luffy and Ace's apartment. The youngest brother was full of excitement about tomorrow's visit to the hospital and couldn't stop singing and dancing about it, getting Usopp to join him. Even he had joined them at one point; he really was looking forward to seeing Kaya again. Though he was concerned about how things would turn out with Ace.

Now everyone had gone to bed. Nami, Vivi and Ace had retired to their respective rooms for the night; Luffy had wanted Ace to camp out with them but Ace had declined the suggestion saying it would be too crowded. So it was just the four of them in the living room. And Luffy still hadn't calmed down.

His new game was sleeping bag leap frog. Not that is was much of a game; just Luffy jumping over everyone's sleeping bags over and over again. It was frustrating since Sanji actually wanted to get some sleep. He had to be up early the next morning to make breakfast for seven people and bentos for eight. It was going to be a busy morning for him and he wanted to get some rest but Luffy wouldn't stop jumping around.

It was a pain in his ass but it was giving him some time to think about what he had seen earlier. Nami wasn't stupid, there was no way she would ever confuse Ace's room with the bathroom. She intended to go into Ace's room. The question was why?

Did she like Ace?

Was he going to lose her to Ace?

Or was he going to lose Ace to her?

He had been trying to get Ace to open up to him but was Nami going to step in and unlock that door like she'd had the key all along?

Did that make him jealous?

And was he jealous because in that scenario he was going to lose Nami or because he was going to lose Ace?

There were too many questions. And each new question just brought up more questions but it all seemed to boil down to him losing Nami or Ace, he just couldn't work out which bothered him more.

It was making his head hurt and all he wanted to do was sleep. But Luffy wouldn't stop playing sleeping bag bloody leap frog. Usopp had joined him now, making it worse. No matter what he did he couldn't get the two of them to stop. He'd tripped Luffy a couple of times and told him to knock it off but Luffy had just responded by saying Sanji was no fun and got back to his game.

The stupid marimo was no use either. He had passed out as soon as he slid into his sleeping bag and he could sleep through anything. There was no chance of getting any help from him. Not that he wanted or needed his help.

If he wanted to get any sleep any time soon he was going to have to move somewhere else. Whilst the thought of bunking down on the floor next to the bed Nami and Vivi were sharing was appealing to him it was inappropriate.

That left Ace's room.

His mind made up to move Sanji got up after Luffy and Usopp jumped over.

"Where are you going Sanji?" Luffy asked. "Why don't you play with us?"

"I'm going to get some sleep," Sanji replied with a sigh. "Unlike you two I've got lots to do tomorrow morning and I need some rest."

"That's no fun."

"If you want breakfast tomorrow I can't stay up playing all night."

"If it's for the sake of food I guess you should get to bed."

Sanji turned and left letting Luffy and Usopp get back to their game. He headed to Ace's room and knocked on the door. He expected to wait a few minutes before he got a response since he thought Ace would be asleep but almost immediately the door was opened.

"What's up?" Ace asked.

"Sorry if I woke you,"

"I hadn't got to sleep yet."

"I wondered if I could sleep in here."

"Let me guess, Luffy's not sleeping."

"No, and he's not letting anyone except Zoro get any."

"I don't mind," Ace replied as he moved aside so Sanji could get in the room.

They both lay down in bed, Ace turning onto his side so his back was to Sanji.

"G'night," Sanji said as he turned onto his side too.

"Night," Ace replied.

–

_Anyway as to why this took longer than it should have and to explain why it's perhaps not that great is gonna take a bit of time but I'll try condense it as much as possible. So whilst I was writing my dissertation we found out my grandma was terminal with lung cancer. It made the whole dissertation ten times worse but I got through it. My sister decided to move her wedding forward 2 years in the hopes that my grandma would be able to make it but unfortunately she died the day I handed the dissertation in, about 2 months before the new wedding date. We kept that date cos we had it all booked a a fair few things were already paid for. It turned out to be a great day but we were all really rushed in making preparations for it. Then there was my graduation and house/job hunting from a different city from the one I wanted to be in. That's all sorted now and I've moved in to my new house with some friends. Oh and I got screwed over by a guy...again so I was a little bit upset over that too. _

_Since things started to calm down I started trying to write fics again. I hope this is ok. But please don't expect me to update really fast now that most things have been dealt with. I started a job at the beginning of this week and I could be working anything between 30-50 hours a week so I might be exhausted. Please bear with me whilst I try and adjust to being a working girl. Though having said that I've got some ideas for the next chapter that I'm really excited about so I'll be working on it after I write a chapter for another fic first. So I really hope I don't keep you waiting too long but I'm not making promises. _

_So about this fic. I know a long time ago I mentioned writing an alternate ending for this fic and a few of you expressed interest in it. I was going to do it but cos I'm fickle I've had a change of heart. Instead I'm going to try writing a sequel and prequel for this. That's all obviously a long way away cos we're not even near the major developments in this fic. Though I guess I could start on the prequel as that would mostly focus on Ace and his time in the BR so wouldn't really affect anything that's going on in this fic. I'll have a think about it..._

_I'm going to plug one of my favourite authors now. StarkBlack is a really incredible writer and in my inbox today I was informed that she's written an Ace Sanji fic. So I seriously recommend you all check it out, I haven't read it yet cos I've not been back from work long but knowing her it'll be really good. So give her a go, you can find her under my favourite authors list. _

_And in One Piece news I'm so happy to have new One Piece manga updates but what's up with the lack of Zoro? There should be more Zoro!_

_I will write the next chapter...but will I really write the next chapter._


End file.
